The "Thrilla" comes home to unveil new livery & charity initiative

Canadian Paul Tracy made a quick stop in Toronto in between testing and training, to announce his sponsorship for the upcoming Honda Indy Toronto unveiling his new car and livery for the event. Accompanied by KV Technology Racing's co-owner Jimmy Vasser, the "Thrilla from West Hilla" (his new moniker given to him by best pal Tommy Kendall) was excited by the prospect of being back to race on his home turf, and humbled by the honor of driving the "Wounded Warriors.ca" liveried car.

The car will be sponsored by the Ontario Honda Dealers Association who will in turn support Wounded Warriors.ca.

"To have the Indy return to Toronto, sponsored by Honda, and not have Paul Tracy racing didn't make sense to us. So we decided to sponsor Paul," said Brian Tafler of the Ontario Honda Dealers Association. "When someone brought up the idea of supporting our Canadian troops, the decision to do that was both immediate and unanimous. We have young men and women in harm's way in foreign lands. Not all come back unscathed. We wanted to help those in need of numerous forms of assistance. That's why we decided to join with Wounded Warriors.ca to help bring awareness to their cause and to help raise funds for them during the Honda Indy Toronto race weekend."

During race week there will be a number of ways people can contribute to WoundedWarriors.ca, but probably the most meaningful will be the opportunity to sign Tracy's race day driver's suit. The suit will be on display Friday through Sunday morning and for a donation race fans can autograph it. Tracy will then wear the signatured suit during the race.

Honda Canada also announced it will match, dollar-for-dollar, any money raised during the Toronto Indy weekend.

Tracy, who will take to the Toronto track for his 17th run for the checkers, was appreciative of the support and the opportunity to race at home.

"I want to thank the Ontario Honda Dealers Association, Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser for the opportunity to race in front of my hometown fans," Tracy said. "I am especially thankful because it is a tremendous honor to represent Wounded Warriors.ca. I am proud to be able to support and raise awareness for this organization that assists Canadian armed forces personnel."


KV Racing co-owner Jimmy Vasser, who was on hand for the unveiling, started off by thanking AGR for resurrecting the race, a long time personal favorite of his own, then went on to talk of his long time competitor now team driver, expressing his desire to see Tracy back in a ride full time.

“Paul Tracy . . . what do you say?” said Vasser. “The respect that not only I have, but all the other competitors and fans have for Paul, it's tremendous. It's great to have him back out on the streets. We're working hard to get him into more races. We believe that Paul has a few good years left in those old bones, and we're working our butts off to put something together for the future.”


The Honda Indy Toronto runs July 10-12th, but before that, Tracy and KV Technology will contest the upcoming Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. OpenWheelWorld had a chance to ask Tracy how the deal came together, what his thoughts were about racing there, and how he felt about the upcoming Toronto race.


OWW: How important was getting the Watkins Glen ride prior to Toronto?

Tracy: "well it helps obviously. It wasn't a guarantee, but the opportunity came about because this program is a two race program, but the way the engine lease works is it's a three race lease. So it was paid for for three. So we were able to minimize the cost cause the engine was paid for. It's a really inexpensive race for Geico, and it was on ABC, so that helped. So it was a combination of a few things that put the extra race together. I think it helps for me because I haven't driven on a road course since last year in Edmonton. So that will be a year off of road courses. Even though I've run some ovals, it's not the same as running on a road course.

OWW: Even though it's a different car, do you feel you'll have an advantage in Toronto?

Tracy: "I mean it's hard to say, the front guys have all raced here before, Helio , Dario , and Dixon, so there's no advantage over those guys. For me, I've got a lot of track knowledge. I'm comfortable with the team, I think the team obviously prepares a great car. You just look at this car, how nicely it's prepared, you can see how good it is. I think that we've got a good opportunity to have a really great result, but most importantly is to support the wounded warriors and support what their doing, "

Copyright © 2004-2010 OpenWheelWorld.net