And this, hopefully, will create an opportunity for Derrick and Paul to reestablish themselves in IndyCar racing, in open-wheel racing for the future. And I think that as has been touched on, more than any time in recent memory, this sport is as competitive as it's ever been.
And Paul's credentials and his accomplishments certainly speak for themselves. But I think while we've all tried to temper everyone's expectations, I think it's everyone's expectation that they're going to go out and give everyone a run for their money next week.
And we won't really know how good a job we've all been able to do until we sit down and do the post-race debriefings and press conferences. By then, we will all have gotten a feel for what we've been able to do with this opportunity. But, more than anything, my hope is that it can maybe lead to something else later this year. And, if not, next season.
Q:
Tony, and maybe Derrick, is there a back-up car for Paul - which, by the way, is no statement on Paul's driving ability - but just a question. Also, for Paul, how much would you like to maybe keep this going for maybe one or two more races this year, but certainly 2009?
PT:
I don't know if there's a back-up car. And I don't think a lot of the transitional teams this year have had back-ups readily available. So, for me, I mean, sure, I would love to keep going this year. The more seat time I can get, the better, if something was to develop for 2009. I've kind of left my options open from that standpoint. And I've been kind of planning towards '09.
But this deal has kind of kick-started that into motion a little bit sooner. Again, this has all been put together in the last 60 hours, really. So, sure, I would love to continue on with Derrick's team and with the sponsorship from Subway. I think it's a great new sponsor for a team and for the series. I'm excited about it and, hopefully, it will develop into something bigger.
TG:
We don't have a dedicated back-up
per se, but we'll be there with all of Vision's available resources and parts truck. So, fortunately, it's one of those wide-open airport circuits with not a lot of things to hit. If we can just keep the other cars from running into each other, which has been a problem from time to time this year, we should be all right.
Q:
Derrick, if you could talk a little bit about your role on race day. I'm assuming you'll be calling strategy for Paul?
DW:
Yes, that will be the function, yes. We've got a complete team made up of the employees of Walker Racing, and we've added some to supplement, because obviously we're racing there, with the Atlantic Series, at the same time.
![Paul Tracy will race at Rexall Edmonton Indy with a Subway-sponsored, Walker Racing-run Vision Racing Dallara-Honda [pic credit: IRL]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/467744.jpg)
