The last time I saw Paul Tracy's car it was hoisted in the air being carried by a tow truck in the IRL Honda Indy Toronto event, bringing his latest run in the open wheel cars to a crashing halt. As I recall the crowd booed the driver that ran him into the track barriers.
Paul has always had a loyal following of fans and many were at the Canadian Motorsports Expo for his Q&A and autograph session at the Toronto International Centre.
First up for the day was a live interview onsite with Raceline Radio.
Then Paul was shown to a few of his cars which were being displayed in the show.
Next Paul went to the Canadian Tire podium where he fielded questions and then sat down to sign hats, shirts, cars and anything else people brought up to him. Paul was upfront with his major issue - he needs the sponsors to be able to get a seat at the racing table. He noted that the costs of open wheel racing is up and the exposure is down. Asked about possible NASCAR races he said his current focus is putting together an Indy program. Here he is on the podium in front of the large crowd.
Of course there was more than just Indy or NASCAR at the expo. A number of racetracks were represented such as Mosport and Delaware Speedway.
The different types of races in the show included motorcycles, speedboats, dirt racers and late model, NCTS, raleigh cars. Here are some lovely girls at one of the dirt track racing cars from Moose Racing.
And here are a few more pics of me taken by Joe Fresh.
