Paul Tracy, driver of the No. 3 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone, talks about recent successes in Champ Car, Busch and Grand Am racing. Tracy, a 16-year Champ Car veteran, wishes to continue his recent streak of good luck entering this weekend’s Grand Prix of Edmonton.

HERE WE ARE, MIDWAY THROUGH THE SEASON, YOU ARE SIXTH IN THE POINTS, HOT OFF OF A ONE-TWO FORSYTHE VICTORY IN TORONTO, IS THERE MOMENTUM GOING INTO EDMONTON?

“Well, I hope so, obviously the first part of the season for me was pretty frustrating. Getting knocked out three races out of five definitely put us way back in the points, but you know we’ve had good speed in qualifying and we’ve had pretty competitive cars all year, just a lot of bad luck. So hopefully, the bad luck that I’ve had has gone away. It looks like, you know, Toronto was a great race for me and it gave me some confidence and some momentum going into Edmonton. So, I’m looking forward to Edmonton.”

WHAT DO YOU CREDIT THE GOOD LUCK TO?

“Well, I don’t know, I just hope my luck has changed. I’ve had such bad luck for the last while, finally some stuff has gone right and hopefully it will continue.”

DOES HAVING THE CANADIAN CROWD MOTIVATE YOU?

“For me, I get a lot of energy off the crowd. In Toronto especially, my hometown, the crowds are really behind me. Edmonton was a new race last year so the crowd was very excited about that. Me being from Canada and the most recognizable Canadian driver, successful, so obviously the crowd is really behind me so it’s always exciting to race in my home country.”

YOU’VE HAD A VARIETY OF RACING EXPERIENCES THIS YEAR, I SEE YOU ARE RUNNING SEVERAL BUSCH AND GRAND AM RACES…

“Um, I’ll probably end up doing about six, I’ve done five so far, and I’ve got a couple more scheduled, one for IRP, one for California Speedway and that’s about it, really. I’ve done some Grand Am races in Daytona, both Daytona races, Mexico City and I’ll run the last race of the year at the track in Chicago. Just, I’ve been pretty busy doing other stuff, too, but it’s good to get away from and do something where I don’t have the pressure of the championship – I can just go out there and have fun and drive and not worry about points and things like that.”

SINCE YOU’VE HAD EXPERIENCE IN CHAMP CAR, BUSCH AND GRAND AM - WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE?

“Oh, my favorite is Champ Car. It’s the fastest car, the best handling car, it’s what I’ve always done – so that’s my favorite.”

HOW DID IT FEEL TO GO BACKWARDS MIDWAY THROUGH THAT BUSCH RACE AT DAYTONA?

“Not as bad as it is going backwards at 220 or 230 in a Champ Car. Going backwards at 190 is not too bad. (laughs)”

YOU’VE RUN GREAT THESE PAST COUPLE OF RACES ON THE BRIDGESTONE BLACK TIRES…

“Yeah, the car handles great on the black tires, we just are having difficulties getting the car to run on the reds alternate tires. We only get two sets of reds [alternate] tires during the weekend and have to use them in qualifying and the races. There’s not much time to prep the car for the reds. We’ve been working on it, but can’t seem to find the fit. Some teams seem to have better luck with the alternates.”

[Ford Racing]