Tracy

MIAMI -- Paul Tracy's name is sprinkled through the CART record book, proof that his years with the series haven't lacked accomplishments.

He's among the series leaders in wins, starts, laps led and earnings. Where Tracy's name hasn't appeared, though, is on the most important list: CART champions.

This year, his 13th in the series, Tracy is in position to finally fill that one hole on his resume. He leads the points standings with only four races remaining, including Sunday's Grand Prix of the Americas in Miami.

"For me, at this point, the most important thing is winning the championship," Tracy said. "That's my main focus, wrapping this thing up."

He's never been closer, despite his 25 career wins and $9.8 million in earnings. Tracy has led more laps this season (594) than any two other drivers combined, and his six wins aren't only a career-high, they match his victory total from the previous five seasons.

"Paul deserves to be a champion," said Jimmy Vasser, who won the CART series in 1996 and, along with Tracy, is one of the two longest-tenured veterans on the circuit. "He's been a great driver on the series for a long time, won a lot of races. I don't need to give you his resume. He's an exciting driver, great guy to have in the series."

Tracy opened the year with three straight victories, the first driver to do so since Al Unser in 1971. He's since added wins at Toronto, Vancouver and Mid-Ohio but only carries an 18-point lead over second-place Bruno Junqueira into this weekend.

Tracy's problem this season, as it has been throughout his career, is consistency. Despite his dominating win total, his position is still vulnerable atop the standings because of four races where he failed to score more than a point.

"There's pressure building, but you've got to not let it get to you," Tracy said. "Hopefully, we can just maintain this gap we have right now and get it up to 23 points before we go to a 500-mile race to end the season."

Drivers can capture up to 23 points in any race; the 500-mile series finale is Nov. 2 in Fontana, Calif., at a track where Tracy has never finished higher than 14th in six appearances. Clearly, he doesn't want to leave anything to chance heading into that final weekend.

	Tracy has six wins this season.

"The only thing I can control is what I'm doing in the car and what I'm doing with my team and sponsors, and that's trying to win races," Tracy said.

His breakthrough year with CART was 1993, when he won five times (tying that year's champion, Nigel Mansell, for the series lead) and placed third in the points race. Another third-place finished followed in 1994, and Tracy was assumed to be CART's next can't-miss star.

But he's managed only one third-place season finish since, and has failed to finish among the top 10 in each of the past two seasons.

Perseverance and persistence, though, may finally pay off this season, his first -- and last -- with Player's/Forsythe Racing. Player's will drop its backing because of a new Canadian ban on tobacco companies advertising through sports sponsorship.

Miami will be the final time Tracy races in a car with the Player's logo. The Canadian rules go into effect Oct. 1, meaning his car will probably be plain white for the season's final three races.

Still, with no sponsor lined up and with CART's future cloudy at best, Tracy expects to be back with the struggling series in 2004. CART was sold earlier this month to Open Wheel Racing Series LLC, a group headed by three CART team owners, including Tracy's, Gerald R. Forsythe.

"I have a contract with Gerry Forsythe for 2004," Tracy said. "But for now, I'm just concentrating on what I have to do this year. I don't want to stress myself out about how in the dark I am about next year."

Tracy still carries the reputation of being CART's bad boy. He's the only driver suspended from a CART race in the past quarter-century because of aggressive driving. He has had some run-ins with officials this season and was fined $15,000 for wearing shorts to a news conference.

He's had trouble dealing with problems in the past, but is no longer focusing on mishaps. He's over the bitter disappointment of losing last year's Indianapolis 500 in disputed fashion to Helio Castroneves. Too much negative energy only holds you back; the new, more mature Tracy says he now knows better.

"The championship is all I've wanted," he said, "and it's all I'm thinking about now."