Wednesday, 16th July 2008

Three of IndyCar racing's biggest names came together at an impromptu press conference to confirm Paul Tracy's return to the series at Edmonton, with Derrick Walker joining the Canadian and fellow team owner Tony George on the dais, along with Mark Bamford, vice-president of Rexall Edmonton Indy co-sponsor Northlands.

He's one of those drivers who I think gets everything out of a car. So I don't think, knowing what we've got, is going to come late in the day. We're going to know real early where we are. And hopefully, as I say, some of the information that we've learned in the past is going to translate to the Dallara, but there's a lot of very competitive teams in the IRL.

When we were racing in Champ Car, there was really one mega team that seemed to get most of the results. But, if you look at the IRL, there's several mega teams and several really strong road racing teams.

So there's a lot of competition. So I don't think we're going into this with any illusions. But, as Paul said, we're going there to get the best result we can. So we know it's there. If we can execute in the short time that we have, I think we can have a good result.

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The last point I'd like to make is, certainly, if you look at the big picture and you look at Canada, it's been one of those great markets for open-wheel racing. And I think, for one reason or another over the years, it sort of... it's depleted a little bit.

So I think IndyCar going there now, and particularly with Paul being in the field, I think it's a great opportunity to kick start it back, and I know IRL is looking for more events next year in Canada. I think it's a good opportunity, and hopefully this effort can help make, get Canada back on the map in open wheel and get the fans back, because we know there's a lot of great racing fans up in Canada.

Q:
Mark Bamford, as we mentioned, is the vice-president of finance for Northlands. Northlands is the operator of the Rexall Edmonton Indy. Mark, if you could, just comment on what it means to see Paul Tracy as an addition to the field for the race that would take place a week from this Saturday.

Mark Bamford:
Good morning, and thank you. On behalf of Northlands, the operator of the Rexall Edmonton Indy, it's my pleasure to be certainly joining Mr Walker, Mr Tracy and Mr George for this announcement this morning.

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