Wheel-Nut
07-13-06, 10:24 AM
http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/28497/
"In racing, you can win a title alternating wins with good results, but emotionally I’m on the side of the ones who even when they have a second-place finish in the pocket, they put all their chips back on the table to try and go for the win.”
Is there a better way to describe Paul Tracy?
“Tracy, he’s the type of driver you love or hate; nothing in between. He’s had thousands of possibilities in his career; when he was racing at Penske with Emerson (Fittipaldi) and Al (Unser) Jr., they never got even close to him in terms of lap times... And yet they were the ones finishing 1-2 in the championship! Paul was dominating races but rarely reaching checkered flags, often crashing his car against somebody that was a lap down.
“So from the outside, his ‘Bravery’ might look like it wasn’t taking him anywhere – other than getting plenty of cursing from his opponents! Still, every now and then he would make the impossible come through. Slowly, all his opponents started to see him with...fear. Whenever they saw him in their mirrors, they knew that Paul was the driver the least inclined to stay there. It became a big advantage for him – you can always surprise people when they don’t know what to expect from you.”
http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/111766_blowing_by_zanardi.jpg
“I remember a Friday morning in Long Beach in ’97, when I was coming out of the pits for my first lap of practice, and I found myself driving down the straight side-by-side with Tracy,” Zanardi relates. “In the blink of an eye, we looked to each other in the most threatening way...
“My foot at this point was squeezing the throttle against the metal, looking for more power, and on cold tires the rear end just couldn’t manage the almost 1,000 horsepower; my hands were ultra-tight on the steering wheel, just trying to keep control of the car, which is going everywhere.
“Finally, we look to each other again going into the braking zone, a look that means simply, ‘Do whatever you wanna do - I ain’t checking the throttle!’
“Believe me, it’s not a satisfaction to tell you that Paul checked the throttle after me. Then again, his car ended up in the barriers...
"In racing, you can win a title alternating wins with good results, but emotionally I’m on the side of the ones who even when they have a second-place finish in the pocket, they put all their chips back on the table to try and go for the win.”
Is there a better way to describe Paul Tracy?
“Tracy, he’s the type of driver you love or hate; nothing in between. He’s had thousands of possibilities in his career; when he was racing at Penske with Emerson (Fittipaldi) and Al (Unser) Jr., they never got even close to him in terms of lap times... And yet they were the ones finishing 1-2 in the championship! Paul was dominating races but rarely reaching checkered flags, often crashing his car against somebody that was a lap down.
“So from the outside, his ‘Bravery’ might look like it wasn’t taking him anywhere – other than getting plenty of cursing from his opponents! Still, every now and then he would make the impossible come through. Slowly, all his opponents started to see him with...fear. Whenever they saw him in their mirrors, they knew that Paul was the driver the least inclined to stay there. It became a big advantage for him – you can always surprise people when they don’t know what to expect from you.”
http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/111766_blowing_by_zanardi.jpg
“I remember a Friday morning in Long Beach in ’97, when I was coming out of the pits for my first lap of practice, and I found myself driving down the straight side-by-side with Tracy,” Zanardi relates. “In the blink of an eye, we looked to each other in the most threatening way...
“My foot at this point was squeezing the throttle against the metal, looking for more power, and on cold tires the rear end just couldn’t manage the almost 1,000 horsepower; my hands were ultra-tight on the steering wheel, just trying to keep control of the car, which is going everywhere.
“Finally, we look to each other again going into the braking zone, a look that means simply, ‘Do whatever you wanna do - I ain’t checking the throttle!’
“Believe me, it’s not a satisfaction to tell you that Paul checked the throttle after me. Then again, his car ended up in the barriers...