CCWS Feature - Paul Tracy, All American Bad Boy
05/09/2006
Although he did not win any of the three races in the past month, Champ Car’s Paul Tracy (above) stole the headlines in each event for various reasons. In doing so, he brought quite a lot of attention to the Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.
In brief, he made a “stupid” (his own words) move which took out Alex Tagliani in San Jose, resulting in a pit lane fight between the two that ended with them scrapping on the ground before being separated by officials.
At the next race he clashed – and not for the first time by any means – with nemesis Sebastien Bourdais in a last lap, last corner bid to snatch second place. Bourdais climbed from his car within sight of the chequered flag and ran to Tracy, pushing him in the chest.
Two races, two fights. Even CNN in America did a news piece about the incidents, putting the Bridgestone-backed series in front of a whole new audience.
Tracy has a reputation as a driver fans either love or hate. There’s no in-between, and his on- and off-track actions in 2006 have added plenty of ammunition to his critics – and to his record of fines and probations. But the recent incidents have caused his loyal fans to rally around him more than ever. It can be a refreshing change to hear a driver say what he thinks even when it will most likely land him in hot water.
Tracy admitted immediately afterwards that the San Jose incident (where he returned from a spin into a run off area straight into the path of Tagliani) was his own fault. When confronted by a still helmeted, and furious, Tagliani in the pitlane, Tracy apologized straight away. That wasn’t enough for Tag…
Although Tracy had apologized, Tagliani didn’t want to hear it and continued his verbal assault. The two parted, briefly, but when Tagliani renewed his verbal barrage, words turned to blows and the pair scuffled to the ground before cooler heads prevailed and onlookers separated them.
“I came back to the pits and he kept confronting me, he kept grabbing me and I told him to stop grabbing me,” said Tracy. “Then he walked away and came back and grabbed me again and that was it. I had to defend myself.” The scrap made all the TV news highlight reels.
So to Denver. Tracy was spun out at the first corner (ironically by Tagliani!), but he put in a typically aggressive Tracy-style drive to get back to second place for the final lap. Series leader Sebastien Bourdais was right behind him, and still had some “push to pass” power left. Bourdais used it to good effect on the run to the final corner.
"I went past him and then I braked late,” said Bourdais. “Not desperately late, there was no need to do anything stupid. I gave him plenty of room and he banzais me on the inside. Bam! That was it. Are we racing or are we not? If there's a rule that says you can't pass Paul Tracy in the rulebook, then, OK.”
"Nearly all of the problems in this series,” Bourdais added, “PT is in the middle of them.”
Tracy summed it up in typical style: “ It’s the last corner, last lap. I’m on the inside, he’s on the outside, and he leaves the door wide open. Let’s face it, he knew who he was racing against. I’m not going to sit back and say ‘well done, after you’, am I?”
While the Bourdais incident was treated as a “racing accident,” by officials, Tracy stirred things up even more after by saying that both his fights were with Francophones, and neither were brave enough to take their helmets off before they challenged him.
The next race was at French speaking Montreal, where Tracy made all the pre race headlines because of his comments - not on the sports pages, but on the front pages…
It no doubt helped swell the crowd, and also spawned a whole new range of merchandise: “Sugar Ray Tracy” read one T-shirt. All weekend, he was the centre of attention, and while it earned him plenty of boos and catcalls from fans, Tracy took it in stride – in fact, he played it up by donning a Quebec flag as a cape and a WWF villain-style head sock for the driver introductions.
“I’m having fun,” Tracy declared. “More importantly, the fans are having fun. That’s what it’s all about. They get to yell and hoot and holler at me, and I don’t mind. Heck, this is racing. It’s not curing cancer, it’s not Formula 1. It’s supposed to be fun.
“I also found that after I went round with the cape, their attitude changed. They could see that I was playing it up, and it was funny, and I wasn’t taking it too serious.
“One thing does kind of piss me off though – I read somewhere that Bourdais said that I’m involved in forty or fifty percent of the accidents in Champ Car. I don’t know where he got those numbers. It’s more like seventy percent...”