I was recently at he Honda Indy in Edmonton, Alberta and caught up with Canadian open wheel racing star, Paul Tracy. We chatted about cars, racing, what’s in his garage and why he was grounded frequently growing up! Check it out…
The Car Girl: Thanks for joining me, Paul. What age were you when you first started to get involved in Motorsport?
Paul Tracy: My first race was when I was probably 5 or 6 years old. My dad came home with a go-kart and we went out to the go-kart track. There was a race, we entered it, and that was it. We ended up going back to the go-kart track every week after that.
TCG: Was Motorsport something that you had suggested or was it something your father brought into the home?
PT: My dad has always been a car guy. He’s always had exotic cars and different types of sports cars. It wasn’t really something I suggested but what had really prompted it was that I had a little mini-bike when I was a kid. I had it in the garage and I got in trouble for showing it to my friend. I had started it up and the throttle had stuck and it took off across the garage and went through the garage door. My dad took it away from me and then I got grounded and a couple weeks later he came back with a go-kart.
TCG: So that was kind of a blessing in disguise?!
PT: Yeah!
TCG: When you were growing up, what kinds of cars did you idolize? Was there something that you wanted to drive, i.e. I’m 6 years old now but I can’t wait until I’m 16 to drive…
PT: I don’t know. My dad always had nice cars. He had lots of different kinds of sports cars.
TCG: What kinds of cars?
PT: My dad had Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, every kind of car you can imagine. Rolls Royce’s, MG’s, you name it. He would buy stuff cheap and sell it for more. He’s always been into that kind of thing. I guess I’ve always dreamt of driving racecars not so much street cars.
TCG: When you turned 16, what car did you get?
PT: My first car when I was 16 was a Fiero. A 1984 Fiero.
TCG: What colour was it? Red?!
PT: It was red! I crashed it quite a lot. It lasted about 6-7 months before I had crashed it enough to where my dad took it away.
TCG: And then which car did you get after that?
PT: My dad gave me a pickup truck from his work, which was all beat up. I got grounded from having the Fiero taken away, and got a pickup truck after that. It was a Chevy.
TCG: I read that you were into collecting electric vehicles, is that correct?
PT: No, I don’t know where the ‘electric’ came from, maybe it was ‘eclectic!’ I have a bunch of old vehicles now, like a 1964 Lincoln Continental, a ’64 Buick Riviera, a 1951 Mercury, so I don’t know where that came out because I don’t own an electric vehicle. I heard that the other day too. Somebody made that up!
TCG: Could be worse, right?!
PT: Yeah!
TCG: I also read, correct me if I’m wrong, that you’re into motorcycles. What kinds of motorcycles do you have in your garage?
PT: I have a couple of different Harley’s, I have a Chopper and in the next couple of weeks, if no races come together, I’m going to a motorcycle rally with a couple of friends.
TCG: I know you have multiple cars in your garage, what’s your favourite car to drive for everyday purposes?
PT: Everyday, I drive a CL600 (Mercedes Benz). My wife has an S600 (Mercedes Benz). I like to drive my older cars but in the summertime in Vegas, it’s really hot, so it’s difficult to get them to run cool enough and not have a problem.
TCG: What advice would you give to kids or individuals looking to get into motorsport?
PT: It’s very, very difficult nowadays. It’s really hard to find sponsorship and keep sponsors happy. It’s not like it was in the 80’s and 90’s where sponsorship was easier to come by. Now, if you really want succeed and make it here, it’s not just the driving of a car, it’s a full-time job trying to find and raise the sponsorship and capital to do it. And when you have that, you have to over-deliver to the sponsors. What you say you’re going to do, you have to go over and above everything you say you’re going to do. Because if you don’t, they’re not going to come back.
TCG: I remember asking you this question in 2004 when you were in Vancouver for the Molson Indy race. I asked, do you prefer, Tim Horton’s, Kristy Kreme or victory donuts?
PT: I like Tim Horton’s!
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