Colorful Paul Tracy Will Return To Indianapolis In May

By Joe Jennings
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Updated: April 18, 2009

Long Beach, Calif. – After a seven-year absence, renowned driver Paul Tracy will return to the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 2002, the year he finished runner-up to Helio Castroneves. Tracy will drive the GEICO-KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry, and will be a teammate to Mario Moraes.

The Tracy announcement was made by KV team owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser. Joining them were GEICO officials along with Max Papis, who flies the GEICO Insurance colors in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Kalkoven stated, “It’s with great pleasure that I announce that Paul Tracy, one of the most interesting and fun drivers on the North American racing scenes, is going to be racing for KV Racing Technology at the 2009 Indianapolis 500.”

Added Vasser, “This is a great thing not only for KV but for IndyCar racing. To get PT back out there I think is going to be phenomenal for the month of May. Hopefully, this could lead into some other things for the future. If you look at his numbers, they are phenomenal.”

“For me, it’s a very exciting day,” Tracy said. “Obviously it’s been extremely frustrating to have only raced one time since the merger of the two series. I did race at Edmonton and felt I did a good enough job to warrant being back in a car, but that didn’t transpire.”

For GEICO, the formidable insurance company will receive double exposure on the Memorial Day weekend with Tracy competing in the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 and Papis will be entered in the Coca-Cola 600 at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“This deal happened during the St. Petersburg race while I was sitting on my couch,” Tracy said. “A GEICO representative called me and said, ‘Racing is not the same without you out there. What would it cost to run Indy properly?’ I said I would make some calls and about 24 hours later we had a deal with GEICO. The excitement of me going to Indy and what I can do media wise and Max (Papis) running at the 600, GEICO wants to get as much exposure as they can during the month of May.”

Tracy expressed sadness with not being able to compete in this weekend’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. “It is frustrating not to be racing on the streets of Long Beach, as my first race came in 1981. And I’ve won it four times. I have a heavy heart about missing the race but am glad to be going back to Indianapolis.”

All parties agreed that Tracy should have no difficulty acclimating himself to the high speeds at Indianapolis, even though he hasn’t competed on an oval in a while. “Paul (Tracy) has shown himself to be one of the toughest competitors on ovals, and I don’t think it will take him long to get up to speed,” Vasser said.

Tracy said he will not participate in the rookie orientation program. Said the outspoken driver with a laugh, “I don’t think they let past winners do that there.” He was referring to the controversial finish that took place during his last Indianapolis 500 event.

KV officials said they do not plan on adding a third car for Papis or anyone else. However, they did not rule out such an arrangement in 2010.