Will this be Tracy's final CC season?

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This thread will essentially touch on one of ChampCar's more intriguing topics....whether 2003 champion Paul Tracy will indeed make his 2006 campaign his last and head for the, um...., "greener" pastures of NASCAR. Just as V8 Supercar driver Marcus Ambrose has winged his way to North America and NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series, Tracy is preparing for run a few, selected, Busch Series and Truck Series races. If he does indeed leave the ranks of AOWR, it will be a morose day in NA motorsports, for "The Thrill from West Hill" is one of ChampCar's last, honest characters. (Just ask his nemesis, 2-time CC series champ Sebastien Bourdais about that!) Here is his racing resume, so to speak, stretching back to around 1991, when the Canadian made his debut for NA's version of F1's Minardi, Dale Coyne Racing.

NOTE:Prior to 1991, he was already an established racer, having won in Indy Lights, Formula 2000, Can-Am and Canadian FF.

1991:Debuted for Dale Coyne Racing; made 4 starts(Long Beach, Michigan, Nazareth and Laguna Seca). Signed w/Marlboro-Team Penske as a test driver for 1992.

1992:Won first pole(Road America), substituting for an injured Rick Mears. Had 11 starts for Penske that year, w/runner-ups at Michigan and Mid-Ohio, a 3rd at Nazareth and a 4th at Phoenix. Finished 16th in the points.

1993:Finished third in the points, behind runner-up Emerson Fittipaldi and champion Nigel Mansell(tied Mansell for season wins w/5; Tracy won at Long Beach, Cleveland, Toronto, Road America, and Laguna Seca). Started on pole at Road America and Cleveland.

1994:Finished third for Penske, behind Fittipaldi and 1994 series winner Al Unser, Jr.......won at Belle Isle(Detroit), Nazareth and Laguna Seca.....finished the season w/8 podiums but had 7 non-points finishes.

1995:Drove for Newman-Haas Racing after getting fired from Penske(to this day, PT's probably the only AOWR driver to be fired from the Captain's team twice in a career......finished 6th in the points, w/2 wins(Surfers Paradise, Milwaukee) and 9 top-10 finishes(also had 7 finishes of 20th or worse). Failed to capture the pole for first time since 1991.

1996:Returned to Penske(for the second time)......finished 13th in points and failed to win for first time in his career.....top finishes were a 3rd at Milwaukee, a 4th at Long Beach and a pair of 5ths(Nazareth and Toronto). Became first CC driver to break the 190mph barrier on a 1-mile oval(Nazareth, w/a speed of 190.737 mph).

1997:Finished 5th in the points, w/wins at Nazareth, Gateway and the "roval" in Rio de Janiero. Ended the season on a major skid, though, w/non-points finishes at Mid-Ohio, Road America, Fontana, Surfers', and Laguna Seca. Was dismissed by Penske at season's end, though.

1998:Finished 13th in the points in his debut season for Team KOOL Green, but it was his, um....on-track behaviors that garnered a lot of unwanted attention at CART; during the year, he garnered a record $60,000 in fines for altercations w/drivers at Portland, Houston and Road America, and for a particulary uncouth dispute w/new team owner Barry Green; to this day, he is the only driver to be suspended from a Champ Car season opener(1999-Homestead) for violating series rules, stemming from an on-track incident w/Michael Andretti at Surfers Paradise in Oct. 1998. As for his driving.....his top finishes were three fifths, at Motegi, Japan, Mid-Ohio, and Nazareth.

1999:Notched a third 3rd-place finish at season's end, buoyed w/wins at Milwaukee and Houston. Recorded 7 podium finishes and was one of four multiple race winners that year(the others were Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti, and Adrian Fernandez).

2000:Finished 5th in the points standings, w/wins at Long Beach, Vancouver and Road America. Scored one pole at Michigan.....his victory at Long Beach was noted for the deepest start a race winner has had there(PT started 17th there in 2000). Led the points table for 6 cons. races(rounds 2-7, Long Beach-Belle Isle/Detroit).

2001:Although Tracy started out w/cons. top-4 finishes at Monterrey, Nazareth and Long Beach, he wound up finishing 14th in the points in his fourth year for KOOL Green. Scored top starts of 4th three times at Michigan, Milwaukee and Surfers. Was forced to relinquish three championship pts. from the Laguna Seca race due to running Cristiano da Matta off-course late in the race(both drivers eventually dropped out of the race).

2002:Finished 11th in the points; scored one win, at Milwaukee, but failed to score points in eight of 19 races. Season was compounded by a one-off visit to the IRL-sanctioned Indy 500, where Tracy was "robbed" of the victory by race stewards, who awarded the win to Helio Castroneves. When teammate Michael Andretti bought out KOOL Green and moved the newly-renamed Andretti-Green Racing team to the IRL, Tracy elected to stay, resulting in.....

2003:A Series Championship. In his first year driving for Gerry Forsythe and Forsythe Championship Racing, Tracy finally won the title denied him several times before. Pacing him on his victory were race wins at Long Beach, Monterrey, St. Petersburg, Toronto, Vancouver, Mid-Ohio and Mexico City. Clinched series title despite failing to score points at Surfers Paradise when the race at Fontana was cancelled due to the wildfires in/around Southern California in Oct. 2003. Scored points in all but two races that year, at Road America and Miami.

2004:Finished 4th in points despite wins at Long Beach and Vancouver. Scored poles at Cleveland, Vancouver and Surfers Paradise. Was one of only two drivers to have multiple wins and poles that year(Sebastien Bourdais was the other driver in 2004).

2005:Finished 4th in the points; won at Milwaukee and Cleveland but on-track confrontations w/Bourdais at Monterrey, Toronto and Las Vegas resulted in poor finishes at each race. Scored poles at Long Beach, Cleveland and Denver; as in 2004, he started outside the top-10 only once.

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According to multiple sources(autoracing1.com, speedtv.com, etc.) 2003 Champ Car series winner Paul Tracy is set to extend his contract w/Forsythe Championship Racing for up to three additional years. And what does "The Thrill from West Hill" attribute to his all-but-announced plans.....how about the reunification/merger talks btwn. the Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League.

In an exclusive column at autosport.com, Tracy writes, "Negotiations are underway between Forsythe Racing and me for an extension to my contract, possibly for three years. We sat down with (Gerry) Forsythe, and my manager and him are discussing it--what's going to work for me, what's going to work for Gerry. We've had a great relationship, and hopefully by the next race [at Houston on May 13] we'll know what we'll be doing. This isn't a big change of heart on my part. It seems there's a lot changing, and I'm now optimistic that a reunification could happen. If it does, well, I'd love the opportunity to run against the best guys again instead of just half of them, and if it's a three-year deal I sign with Gerry, I'm confident I'll still be quick enough in three years."

As for his current plans.....Tracy, who's competed in a couple of NASCAR Busch Series races, is preparing to race at Talledega Speedway this weekend, and is in the process of securing a Rolex Series DP ride for that series' round at Laguna Seca prior to the Champ Car race in Houston.

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As to the question at the beginning of this thread, the answer can stated very clearly.........NO. Late this afternoon, 16-year Champ Car veteran and 2003 series champion Paul Tracy, alongside FCR VP of Operations Neil Micklewright and team owner Gerry Forsythe, announced a five-year deal to continue racing with the Indy-based team. Here are some quotes from those involved......

Paul Tracy, #3 Indeck/Forsythe FC/L:

I'm looking forward to racing Champ Cars for another five years. This was actually a pretty easy decision for me. I've been checking out other racing series this year and that's been a great learning experience and a lot of fun, but at the end of the day there's nothing like Champ Car. The depth of talent, the machinery, the challenge of driving all kinds of circuits--plus the direction and growth of the series has everybody energized with where it's going over the next few years. There are tremedous historic tracks such as Milwaukee, Road America, Cleveland, plus some great new events like Houston, San Jose, Mexico City, Edmonton and some others I hear are in the pipeline. And the new 2007 car looks like it's going to be a real step up so I felt like I needed to stick around and be a part of this whole scene.

Gerry Forsythe, Owner-Forsythe Championship Racing/Co-Owner, Champ Car World Series:

Paul has always been my kind of driver. He doesn't take anything off anybody, and there's nobody I'd rather have in the car when it comes down to the last lap. He won the Championship for us in 2003, but I don't think he's ever driven better than he did last season. He's at the top of his game and can win any race, any time, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. We'll continue to give him the tools he needs and I know he's got a lot of wins left in him. I'm proud that he's decided that Champ Car is where he wants to be, and I think history will show the wisdom of his choice.

Neil Micklewright, Vice President of Operations, Forsythe Championship Racing:

Obviously we're all very excited that Paul has decided to extend his Champ Car career. He knows this is where he belongs and what it means to win a Champ Car race. We're going to do everything in our power to win the Vanderbilt Cup this year and in future years, and now we can all settle in and focus on that goal. Paul is an icon in this sport and just has so much experience. He brings his A-game every week, and let's face it, he's just bloody quick. He's an integral part of this team and now it's time to win some races.

All-in-all, at least one piece of the 2006-2007 NA motorsports silly season has been filled.