Tracy tones down act, gains respect

Friday, Feb. 11, 2000 | 9:42 a.m.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- What a long, strange trip it has been for Paul Tracy.

Eleven months ago, Tracy came to Homestead-Miami Speedway for CART's season-opening race, but had to watch from the pits while sitting out an unprecedented one-race suspension for rough driving the season before.

For much of the 1998 season, Tracy was a pariah of sorts, scorned by fellow drivers and fans alike for his overly aggressive style of driving.

By the end of last season, however, Tracy had toned down his antics, gained the respect of most of his peers, won two races, was in contention for the series championship with three races remaining and was voted the most improved driver in the series.

When the 31-year-old Las Vegas resident showed up for this week's "spring training" at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Tracy learned he had been named to CART's inaugural all-star team.

Quite a turnaround for a driver who once was nicknamed "Captain Crunch" by his fellow drivers.

"It really was rewarding," Tracy said of his second season with Team Kool Green. "Starting the season off not being able to run here (Homestead) was frustrating, for sure, and I think it hurt our championship effort.

"Last year I ended up with nine podiums (top three finishes) -- that's the best I've ever done, and it's confidence building; every time you're able to take a trophy home, it builds your confidence up."

Sitting in the garage at Homestead-Miami this week, it was clear that Tracy is a changed man -- and the changes go deeper than his slimmer appearance (he lost 20 pounds during the winter) and dyed blond hair.

"I'm a lot more relaxed now," Tracy said. "Life's a lot better and a lot easier and I'm relaxed and pretty much ready to go. I feel good physically, I feel good mentally, I feel like I've kind of come full circle and my batteries are full again."

It took Tracy a year and a half with Team Kool Green to get to that point, and the native of Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, credits his race engineer, Tony Cicale, with helping him get there.

"You're out there to win, but our first and foremost goal is to not take chances where you're going to lose out on an opportunity," Tracy said. "I think that's probably what Tony taught me most last year -- every position is not the last lap. If a guy passes you, it's not the end of the race; you work on him and you try to get back past him.

"Having secured Tony Cicale on the team (prior to 1999), we worked all winter figuring out what was going to make the car work for me. And when that happened, we were able to qualify up front and run at the front easily. That takes a lot of the pressure off. When things aren't going well, that's when pressure adds up and you try to force things to happen."

Thanks to a strong second half last season, during which he notched one of his two victories and four of his nine podium finishes, Tracy said he is poised to contend for the series championship in 2000.

"I think if we can start off the season on the right foot and score some points, we've got a good chance," he said.

"We're not coming here looking to dominate, we just want to get through the first five or six races and put some points on the board and just keep working at the championship."

While other teams had made off-season changes in power, chassis and personnel, Tracy said he is confident in the fact that he is going into this season with the same race package he had a year ago.

"I think a lot of teams are still wondering where to go with their package," he said. "There has been a lot of turnover with teams, engineering-wise, a lot of change in terms of equipment and drivers, but we've stayed pretty much status quo."

Although Tracy has undergone a metamorphosis during the past year, he insists there is one facet of his personality that hasn't changed.

"I'm still as competitive as I've ever been, I still have as much desire as I've ever had," he said. "But with the help from (team president Barry Green) and Tony, I've been able to temper it and pick the right opportunities."

* SPRING FLINGS: For the second day in a row, Team Rahal drivers Max Papis and Kenny Brack topped the speed charts in Thursday's test session. Papis averaged 209.907 mph for his fastest lap of the day while Brack was next at 208.651. Michael Andretti was third quickest at 208.033. Each of the three fastest drivers was powered by a Ford Cosworth engine. ...

Papis' top speed was more than 7 mph slower than the track qualifying record of 217.541, set last year by Greg Moore. The two-day test featured use of the low-downforce variant of the Handford MkII Device, a new rear-wing package mandated by CART to help contain speeds on intermediate ovals. "Today's lap was a pretty good one," Papis said. "We had pretty good conditions and I don't know if we'll go that much faster (in qualifying)." ...

Brack, beginning his first season in CART after three years in the IRL, said it is too early in the season to put a lot of stock in Thursday's times. "So far, so good, but I don't think this is a true reading for the race weekend because all of the teams will be going back and working hard now. But if you're making a chart, it's better to be on top than on the bottom," Brack said. ...

Las Vegan Jimmy Vasser posted the fourth-fastest lap of the test at 207.236 mph Thursday afternoon; Patrick Carpentier of Las Vegas was eighth fastest overall (206.130); Las Vegan Paul Tracy was 12th fastest at 202.608; and Richie Hearn of Henderson was 17th (among 25 drivers) at 201.138. ... Reigning CART champion Juan Montoya was sixth fastest at 206.768. ... The 2000 CART season opens March 26 with the Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Initial data from Dario Franchitti's testing accident Wednesday pointed to a mechanical failure in the car's right rear spindle, according to Team Kool Green general manager Kim Green. "There is no history of failure in this area," Green said. "We are working with our technical partners at Reynard to evaluate the components." Franchitti, runner-up for the series championship last season, was injured after his car made contact with the wall in turn three with approximately 10 minutes remaining in Wednesday's final test session. He is expected to be released from the hospital on Saturday.