On Sat, 05 Jul 2003 23:34:29 GMT, what's his name
<whatshisname (AT) whome (DOT) net> wrote:

Anyone else think Paul Tracy is just a heartbeat away from a having a
nervous breakdown?

From the Toronto Sun newspaper. check it out at:

http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/Toron...05/127288.html

An article titled "More trouble for Tracy - Player's wants answers
after Pook's bizarre confrontation" by Dean McNulty.

"A shouting incident on pit road between Toronto's Paul Tracy and CART
Champ car boss Chris Pook has forced Player's/Forsythe Racing to bring
in a top executive to deal with the fallout."

Wow! Used to be Tracy just had shoving matches with his team owner and
punted his teammates off course, or running over his own pit crew, or
talking juvenile WWF smack-talk like at Portland. Now he is getting
into shouting matches with the CART CEO!

And Player's and the Forsythe team think that CART's CEO shouldn't
even be let in the pits - for instance:


"It would be like NHL commissioner Gary Bettman going on the ice to
yell at Mats Sundin during a game," a team source told The Sun.

Michael Bonelli, an executive from Player's head office in Montreal,
was brought in yesterday to deal with what the team called a serious
breach of racing protocol.

"Chris Pook has no business coming up to our driver on the race
course," Bonelli said.

Bonelli was livid Pook was even on pit road in the first place."


So Pook is supposed to run the series and be making all these
decisions about CART's future, but he isn't supposed to have a pit
pass or talk to the drivers?

This Bonelli guy evidently doesn't think too much of Pook, as
witnessed by this statement:


"Chris Pook's job is to make sure the grandstands are full and that
they don't blow over when a wind comes up," Bonelli said."


Bonelli even thinks a guy Tracy called "a circus clown" is better
equipped to be handling Tracy and his on-track antics than Pook - for
instance:


"If there is a problem with Paul Tracy on the track it is the job of
the series chief steward (Chris Kneifel) to deal with it, not Chris
Pook," Bonelli said."


I don't know - Snake-Oil Salesman or Circus Clown? Would be a tough
call to make. Seems like Bonelli has more faith in the "Circus clown"
than in the CART CEO.

Read the article. Its HILARIOUS! Just one big, old happy family over
there in CART these days. If you listen to Bonelli you get the
impression that Paul Tracy is such a "star" that he should not only
get away with whatever he wants, but maybe should be running the whole
damn show!

Priceless!

anyone think both pook and tracy are about to lose it. seems like the company
is self destructing from the inside. i thought the mysterious soon to announced
new owner would have eased the nerves of everyone. desperate actions by
desperate men, it's is all but over. someone call dandy don and have him warm
up his voice.

On 06 Jul 2003 20:15:44 GMT, mphsrick43 (AT) aol (DOT) com (Mphsrick43) wrote:

Pook's basically out of work. A CEO running a relatively small public
company that loses $24 million a year (and no game plan to stop the
bleeding) can't be feeling real secure. And if CART finds a sugar
daddy, he'll bring in his own boy. Either way, Pook's out.

Paul Tracy is simply self destructing. Having never won a big prize,
combined with a career that's coming to an end, his frustrations are now
in control.

I think we've seen signs of this over the past several years. But with
the gut-wrenching loss at Indy and now a decent chance of him not
winning a championship he should win hands down, he's over the edge.

I think Pook senses this with Paul's on-track antics--which we saw
displayed again this week--and figured if the officials weren't going to
do anything about it, he would. To that extent, kudos to Pook.

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 20:33:39 -0400, Barry Posner <bup100 (AT) psu (DOT) edu> wrote:

I'm sure that's the fulfillment of all of his dreams and aspirations.

That only adds to his frustrations.

"You ain't got nuthin when you got nuthin to lose." And that's kinda
the point. (I think Bob Dylan said that.)

"Barry Posner" <bup100 (AT) psu (DOT) edu> wrote

I agree completely. I've never seen anything as contrived as his comments in
Portland. And as far as the cuss-fest between him and Jourdain on Thursday
in Cleveland, well Paul has always been known as a potty mouth. He's on top
of his game and just having fun with.

Brian

This is truly funny stuff.

Tracy is a moron, yet he brings more clowns out than anyone. What a concept
in the entertainment industry.
I cant wait for the next time this moron pops off!
Go Pauly!!

Smokey

"what's his name" <whatshisname (AT) whome (DOT) net> wrote

On Sat, 05 Jul 2003 18:29:47 -0500, tjmc <tjmc.enteract (AT) rcn (DOT) com>
wrote:


Maybe he is finally going through puberty and he's trying to somehow
assert himself? (chuckle, chuckle, grin in heavy sarcastic tone)

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 19:56:03 -0500, tjmc <tjmc.enteract (AT) rcn (DOT) com>
wrote:


Without a doubt the boyhood dream of all Canadian race drivers - a
seat in NASCAR. (more sarcastic laughter)



No doubt is so screwed up psychologically that he could be an entire
textbook on the subject all by himself.

So many races, but so few wins and no championships. So many teams yet
so many burned bridges. So many opportunities for friendships with
drivers along the way, but instead so many enemies.

I mean, gawd, the man started with Penske, for chrssakes, and he still
couldn't win a championship. He's going to lose this one this year,
too, despite every effort of the sanctioning bosy to hand it to him.

And, oh man, oh man - if Jourdain wins it - an ex-IRL driver! I
imagine we'll see Tracy having seizures!



He's already lost it all - all those races, all those championships,
all the respect of those teams he drove for an their owners, all those
drivers - and the Indy 500.

Sad, but Tracy's mark in motorsports history will be as one of the
biggest losers of all time - all the greatest opportunities, but all
squandered by his destructive behavior and immaturity.

Ten years from now he won't be remembered as the "Thrill from West
Hill," but instead the "Nil from West Hill."

Good lord - that has to be the most ironic message I've ever seen posted in
rasi/rasc. One posted by someone who posted literally dozens of long-winded,
bellicose messages on or related to two subjects that he agrees are
"essentially irrelevant."

That post finally caps it.

"what's his name" <whatshisname (AT) whome (DOT) net> wrote