Paul TracyJoins Forces With AJ Foyt For The Milwaukee Mile

Look who we ran into in the tire store in Spendora, TX ! They were useless helping get the tire fixed though! Image Credit: Tommy Kendall

Paul Tracy Joins Forces With AJ Foyt For The Milwaukee Mile

Two four time winners join forces to conquer the Milwaukee Mile together ... AJ Foyt as a car owner without a driver, and Paul Tracy as one of the most proven winning drivers without a full-time ride.

Motorsports commentator and sport car driver Tommy Kendall and Paul Tracy had decided to drive a motorhome back to Tracy's home in Las Vegas from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, taking the long way home through Texas. The fun thing about this trip is that Tommy decided to give updates about the trip through his Facebook account. The two of them experienced a flat tire near San Antonio, so they took the time to take a look at a 1964 primer black customized Lincoln Continental.

BLOWOUT in Splendora, TX! Bummer!! First time the wheels have stopped in 15 hours. Image Credit: Tommy Kendall

After leaving, Tommy wrote to tell everyone to join them on Sirius Radio - "Welcome to all the new friends from the Godfather's Sirius show who have joined the ABC Supply/Geico Thrilla Express." The word had begun to spread.

Gonna be 3 hours to get a tire here, so we've gone to plan B: unloaded the runabout and are going to go look at the Lincoln in the meantime. Image Credit: Tommy Kendall

Followers began to comment the following:

** AJ and PT is a match made in heaven. All we need now is Penske resources and the wins shall flow forth!

** PT is going to have to train on the heavy bag as well as the weights now. It is after all, AJ we are talking about.

** Sounds like a really fun road trip. I'm a big fan of "the thrill from West Hill". Way cool Lincoln!!

** Re: MM. Sad it came about this way but its probably more fate than anything. AJ and PT, we need to get PT's dad in there to stir up 'ol AJ. Epic. TO and beyond, this is history in the making. As happy as this makes a lot of people there are certainly some drivers/teams/owners this will just plain scare. Nice.

** AMEN and could not be happier. TK, PT and AJ is the real reality show. Some cool title that combines TEX and that HORN ...Chrome that is. Tell PT that we are stoked.

** This will be the first IRL race I watch start to finish.

The sad part to all of this was the tragic crash on LAP 174 of the INDY 500 that injured AJ Foyt's driver, Vitor Miera, that opened the door for two tough, rough around the edges open-wheel champions to join forces for at least one race at a track they both have had great success. Also, AJ had to hit a home run with star power after loosing his regular driver ... the race is named in honor of his team's steady and reliable sponsor ABC Supply and AJ Foyt himself - The ABC Supply Co. Inc. / AJ Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile! AJ Foyt remarked, "It's a very important race for us because it's sponsored by our team sponsor ABC Supply, which is based in Wisconsin and Milwaukee is their home track."

While INDY just celebrated it's 100 year anniversary, the venerable "bullring" known as The Milwaukee Mile is celebrating it's 103rd year. The track is way different than the big four-cornered IMS in that it is only one mile around, there is very little banking to speak of and the track is wide enough to pass almost anywhere. It will be a very exciting race to watch, especially now with PT behind the wheel of an AJ Foyt prepared Dallara. The race will be televised Sun, May 31 - 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

We made good use of our downtime and PT bought this 64 Lincoln. Image Credit: Tommy Kendall

Thrilla' is pretty proud of his new murdered (flat black) Conti w/suicide doors. Image Credit: Tommy Kendall

This excerpted and edited from indycar.com -

Proven Winner
By Dave Lewandowski - Indycar.com - Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Two outspoken open-wheel racing stars have joined forces for the ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225 at The Milwaukee Mile this weekend.

Paul Tracy will replace the injured Vitor Meira behind the wheel of the No. 14 ABC Supply Co. car for A.J. Foyt Racing for the May 31 race. Tracy, who has won at The Mile four times, will be driving for the four-time Indianapolis 500 champion's team for the first time.

"I'm excited to get an opportunity to drive albeit as a fill-in for Vitor as I know it's a short-term thing," said Tracy, who is coming off a ninth-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 in a KV Racing Technology car. "When I started my career (1991), I competed against A.J. He was one of my idols growing up. I haven't told too many people this but he was one of the guys I modeled myself after. I'm a little rough around the edges like him and I say what I feel, and that's one of the things I've always admired about him."

Tracy, 40, has 31 Indy car victories in his CART/Champ Car World Series career; Foyt is the all-time leader with 67 (all under USAC sanctioning).

"Paul Tracy is a hard charger and our type of driver, much like Vitor," said Foyt, who has four victories at The Mile - including an Indy 500-Milwaukee double a week apart. "I believe we can put the right equipment under Paul, and we've both had success there, so I think we can put our heads together and have a good race.
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Tracy has made himself at home at the track. In 14 starts (1993-2006), he has led nine races for 723 laps and earned four wins (Newman-Haas, 1995; Team Green, 1999, 2002; Forsythe, 2005), two poles (Penske Racing, 1996, 1997); two other top-five finishes plus two top-10 finishes.

"I think the team is competing at a much higher level these days," said Tracy, who will be competing in his fourth IndyCar Series event. "I had a long conversation with (team director) Larry (Foyt) and they're working hard. That's all I expect from people is to do their best. I think I'm the kind of driver who could make the difference at Milwaukee, being a four-time winner there, and teaming up with A.J., a guy who's won as many times as he has at the historic Mile is not only a great story but a winning recipe."
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"There's no challenge for me, I'm a grizzly old veteran like A.J., I'll be up to speed real quick," he said. "I jumped in the car at Indianapolis and I hadn't driven at Indy in seven years and never drove a Dallara on the speedway and did 220 mph on my third lap. I don't anticipate any trouble getting up to speed because I spent the last month in the car. If the team can deliver me a good car, I think I can win the race for them."
Reference Here>>

Tommy Kendall has the weather update for the next leg of the ABC Supply/ Geico Express Road trip: Dark. continuing dark throughout the night, giving way to widely scattered sunlight in the morning.

This race will definitely be a "Thrill ... by the guy from West Hill"!

... notes from The EDJE