THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON — It appears Paul Tracy has secured a car and is close to signing a deal and securing a sponsor to compete in Edmonton’s inaugural IndyCar open-wheel race on July 26.
“We’re just down to the wire here and getting things locked down,” Derrick Walker, owner of Walker Racing, said Tuesday in an interview from Indianapolis.
“We’re through the worst. Now it’s just getting all the details down and everybody agreeing, and off we go.”
Walker, who has been brokering the deal with Vision Racing owner Tony George, said he expects a decision within days and pegged the chances of a deal at “80 per cent.”
“I don’t foresee any major issues and it’s never done ’til it’s done, but I think the likelihood is very, very strong,” he said.
Tracy, the 39-year-old Toronto-born former CART/Champ Car series champion, was left without a ride in the IRL this spring when his Forsythe team decided not to join the IndyCar circuit in the merged open-wheel series.
The barrel-chested Toronto Maple Leafs fan, known for his aggressive driving and sharp tongue, last raced in April at the Champ Car finale in Long Beach, Calif. He started fifth, finished 11th in the 20-car field and didn’t lead a lap.
Otherwise, the man nicknamed the Thrill from West Hill has been idle. Negotiations were ongoing for weeks but faltered over the inability to secure a car, Walker said.
IndyCar is halfway through a gruelling stretch of six races in six weeks. The Dallara cars have been crashing and colliding at an alarming rate, lowlighted by the June 28 smash-up derby at the short oval in Richmond, Va., where half the grid was sidelined by crackups or mechanical woes.
Walker said the deal would see the team borrow a car from Vision Racing, which already has Ed Carpenter and A.J. Foyt IV driving for it. Vision would add a third car for Tracy that would run under the Vision umbrella but be maintained by Walker crews.
Walker said even though there are still two more races before the Edmonton event — starting with Saturday’s Firestone Indy 200 in Nashville, Tenn. — they’ve been assured there are enough resources to guarantee a car.
“If there are any accidents at Nashville, there’s still enough equipment in the system to make it happen.”
He said having a car in place removes barriers to getting sponsors and getting Tracy to sign on.
“Paul has never been an issue. Paul has said from the get-go I’d love to do it,”‘ he said.
Carpenter and Foyt are primarily oval racers, and Walker said Tracy’s team would bring a lot of road experience. Edmonton’s 1.96-mile road circuit is at the downtown City Centre Airport.
Tracy and Walker Racing competed in the now-defunct Champ Car series. Tracy was the career Champ Car leader in wins at 31 and raced at all three Edmonton events.
Last year, he started well back in 14th spot in the 17-car grid but raced his way up to fifth, 28 seconds behind winner Sebastien Bourdais.
Walker said Vision would help them master the Dallara car and Honda engine while they would deliver the engineering data and experience on the Edmonton course.
“They saw the benefit of Champ Car involvement,” he said.
Edmonton organizers are also looking for a publicity boost.
Organizers were not able to advertise in earnest until late spring as legal difficulties arising from the merger kept the Edmonton race from being formally announced. Early forecasts had the race projected to run about $1 million in the red.
After Nashville, four of the next five IndyCar races are on street/road courses, but that doesn’t mean Tracy will be on board.
Walker said it would be a one-race deal for now, but the door is open for more.
“We want to get back in the IRL and if Tony has the sponsorship interest and all of those things come together, I see no reason why it wouldn’t go more races,” he said.
“But right now it’s not planned for that.”
George and Tracy could not be immediately reached for comment.