My Way: Robin Miller on Paul Tracy

Paul Tracy's version of the song would be more Sid Vicious than Frank Sinatra. So now he's switched from outraging to engaging the Indy car audience on TV, it's worth recalling his talent to explain why his words carry so much weight. The record shows he took the blows and did it his way...

It really wasn't fair. Considering all the joy, anger, amazement, disbelief and entertainment he provided us for 22 years, Paul Tracy just slipped away. No farewell tour, no announcements, no press conferences and no chance for us to salute one of the most daring, confounding, dazzling and polarizing race drivers to ever strap on an Indy car.

"The Thrill from West Hill" went away quietly, which was anything but his style during his 272 starts in CART, Champ Car and IndyCar.

Tracy's trilogy spanned two decades with three prominent teams (Team Penske from 1991-'97, Team Green from 1998-2002 and Player's Forsythe 2003-07) and countless memories of a mercurial talent who left people shaking their heads for his brilliance or pestilence.

"He was a fast driver and messed up a lot of equipment, but many of the great ones do that," says Roger Penske, who gave the young Canadian his big break in 1991.

"I call P.T. a Sunday guy because it didn't matter where he qualified or what was going on during the race, he was never out of it," says Jimmy Vasser, who began as one of Tracy's rivals and then co-owned his last ride at Indianapolis.

"Paul gave everything all the time, he was a grinder," recalls Barry Green, who won, lost, fought for and nearly with his tempestuous star. "That got him a lot of wins and it also got him into trouble."

"Let's face it, he liked to stand on the gas," smiles Rick Mears, who served as P.T.'s coach, psychologist and voice of reason during his days with Team Penske.

"With Paul, the fight was never over," states Sebastien Bourdais, Tracy's nemesis and sparring partner in their combative days in Champ Car.

Tommy Kendall one of Tracy's BFFs for 20 years describes Tracy as "one of the more fascinating personalities to ever exist and one of the biggest bundles of contradictions you'll ever see. He was brash and brave, but he was also shy, soft-spoken and intelligent."

Dario Franchitti, who spent five years as Tracy's teammate and a dozen as his rival, ponders the question about his pal's lasting image on Indy car racing and sums it up quite well. "It was never boring with P.T. was it?" laughs the three-time Indy winner.

No it wasn't. Whether he was tangling with Michael Andretti, bouncing off Bourdais, dueling with Nigel Mansell, or leaving the paying customers cheering about one of those ambitious, rambunctious moves, Tracy always generated emotions. He clashed with car owners Penske, Green and Vasser, had to take Gerry Forsythe to court, and spent much of his CART career in chief steward Wally Dallenbach's doghouse.

He lost the 2002 Indianapolis 500 in kangaroo court, but won sympathy from all around the globe.

He scored 31 victories from all over the grid, threw away at least 10 more wins with some boneheaded moves, but finally harnessed his aggression in 2003 to capture the lone championship of his "big-car" career.

Sure, had he throttled back and gone for points on more occasions, Tracy's stats would be better and more indicative of his monstrous talent. But that wouldn't have been the driver we came to expect. Loathe him or love him, P.T. was always worth the price of admission and left an indelible mark on walls, fellow drivers and open-wheel racing.

"He was the hardest guy I ever raced against; you could never relax," muses Franchitti, who shared laughs, wins and a few memorable on-track tangles during their five seasons together at Team KOOL Green. "You knew going into the corner with him it was a 50/50 deal and that you were going to have to back off because he wasn't going to"

Vasser, who came into CART a year after Tracy and became part of the Target Ganassi ensemble that included Alex Zanardi, Juan Montoya and four straight titles, said racing P.T. was even tougher than trying to manage him.

"I rate Paul second to Zanardi as the hardest racer I ever went against," says the 1996 CART champ. "He was simply relentless. A hard racing mother#$^%@."

Adds Bourdais: "Most everyone you pass and move on. With Paul, you'd pass him, look in your mirrors and he was still there! Even though he was dead in the ashes."

Kendall thinks he knows why. "P.T. was fueled by rage..."

To read the full story, you'll need the Fall 2014 issue of RACER magazine: The Technology Issue. Take a video tour of the issue...