IndyCar Garage breaks down ten drivers that aren’t driving in the IndyCar Series and what their impact would have done or could do to the IndyCar series. This includes drivers that have raced partial schedules in years past or in the present season.
IndyCar Garage continues it’s countdown of the top drivers not currently driving full-time in the IndyCar Series with driver number 5
PAUL TRACY – CANDADIAN – AGE 40 – Chances of Joining the ICS = 60%
Paul Tracy began his open wheel career at the age of 16 in his home country of Canada. He developed into a budding star by winning nine races in the 1990 Indy Lights Series at the age of 22. He then moved on to Team Penske for 1991 – 1994 where he had considerable success as a fill in for Rick Mears. The rest of the 90’s where a rollercoaster for Tracy. He would move on to Newman/Haas, back to Penske, then on to team Kool Green. As most of the power CART teams moved over to the IRL in the early 2000’s, Tracy remained a dominate force in the rival series. He had one of the best seasons ever in 2003, recording seven wins and the point’s championship. He drove in the Champ Car series until the merger in 2008.
He is highly regarded as one of the best open wheel drivers of the past two decades. He is old enough to have driven against the likes of A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, and to have driven with the likes of Rick Mears, Al Unser Jr and Emerson Fittipaldi. His age (40) puts him on the crisp of being an afterthought when it comes to young talent, but his experience is better than anyone involved in the IndyCar series.
IndyCar Garage continues it’s countdown of the top drivers not currently driving full-time in the IndyCar Series with driver number 5
PAUL TRACY – CANDADIAN – AGE 40 – Chances of Joining the ICS = 60%
Paul Tracy began his open wheel career at the age of 16 in his home country of Canada. He developed into a budding star by winning nine races in the 1990 Indy Lights Series at the age of 22. He then moved on to Team Penske for 1991 – 1994 where he had considerable success as a fill in for Rick Mears. The rest of the 90’s where a rollercoaster for Tracy. He would move on to Newman/Haas, back to Penske, then on to team Kool Green. As most of the power CART teams moved over to the IRL in the early 2000’s, Tracy remained a dominate force in the rival series. He had one of the best seasons ever in 2003, recording seven wins and the point’s championship. He drove in the Champ Car series until the merger in 2008.
He is highly regarded as one of the best open wheel drivers of the past two decades. He is old enough to have driven against the likes of A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, and to have driven with the likes of Rick Mears, Al Unser Jr and Emerson Fittipaldi. His age (40) puts him on the crisp of being an afterthought when it comes to young talent, but his experience is better than anyone involved in the IndyCar series.
He has raced in a total of four IndyCar series races since the merger and remains outspoken that he has something left in the tank for anyone willing to give him a ride. The bottom line with Tracy is that he hit his prime in the peak years of the split. He is still a good driver, but not near the driver he was six years ago in 2003. He needs to be in the IndyCar series full time for at least two more years to give it momentum heading into the next decade.
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