File this in the Makes No Sense Department. The co-owner of one of the top teams in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series has hired Paul Tracy to run later this season but the 2003 CART champion still can't get a ride in an Indy car.
A few weeks ago, P.T. tested Todd Bodine's truck at Chicagoland Speedway and impressed Bob Germain enough to get a one-off deal.
"Paul did a nice job so we got a little bit if support and decided it would be fun to run him in his hometown," said Germain, who along with his two brothers owns 19 car dealerships in Ohio and Florida. "He's our style, very aggressive, and he and Todd are a lot alike."
Tracy, who had a few rides in the old Busch series with mixed results, looks at his truck debut as something bigger.
"I figure it's an audition for 2009 with those guys, because I think Todd wants to go to the Nationwide series," said Tracy.
Currently, Germain runs Mike Wallace in the Nationwide series, plus Justin Marks and Bodine in the trucks (along with Chrissie Wallace, Mike's daughter, in selected events), and may be looking to expand.
"We're going to run Chrissie full-time in the trucks next year and we've got another year for sure with Mike (sponsored by Geico)," said Germain. "I know Todd would like to run the Nationwide series and we've got about a dozen different possibilities we'll be looking at. "And running Paul full-time in the trucks is one of those."
Paul Tracy suffered a compression fracture to his first lumbar vertebrae in his lower back while practicing Saturday for The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach that will keep him out of action for approximately three months. Tracy commented, “This is obviously a very unfortunate situation; it’s really a shame because it pretty much ruins the championship for us this year. I’m very disappointed for the whole team because we had gotten off to a great start in Vegas and we were pretty strong here, we were building momentum and just hoping to be fast and consistent the whole year."
"I was coming off Turn 1 and got back on the throttle pretty hard and the car just snapped around, I went head on into the wall and then the car jumped up in the air and then slammed back on the ground. I could tell something was wrong right away. Now I’m just going to go home and rest for a couple of days and then early next week we’ll start figuring out the best recovery options so I can get back in the car as soon as possible. I feel OK right now after all the medication that the doctors gave me, but I’m just sore and stiff and I just need some rest."
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