Dario Franchitti, an Indianapolis 500 winner who’s also the husband of Hollywood actress Ashley Judd, won today’s Honda Indy Toronto at the CNE grounds – his third victory of the Indy Racing League season.
Paul Tracy of Scarborough was eliminated when he collided with Helio Castroneves and was classified 19th.
Tracy’s car was bashed into the wall at Corner 4 on Lap 66 of the 85-lap event when “the Thrill from West Hill” was trying to pass the Dancing With The Stars celebrity and three-time Indy 500 champion Castroneves.
If Tracy had been able to complete the pass, he would have moved into second place behind then-leader Franchitti.
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Boos rained down on Castroneves when he got out of his damaged car in the pits. The Penske driver told an interviewer that it was the first time he can remember when he’d been booed. He also said he hadn’t done it on purpose.
After Castroneves said he didn’t think that the accident was his fault, Tracy – who won the race twice in 1993 and 2003 – also said it just might have been a racing accident.
“That’s why they call me the ‘thrill,’ I guess,” he said.
Alex Tagliani of Montreal was running near the front toward the end of the 85-lap race when he tried to pass both Mario Moraes and Tomas Scheckter at Corner 3 and collided with Moraes, collecting Scheckter.
It was a barn-burner of a race right from the start and one of the most competitive Indy car races on a street course seen in years. There was lots of passing and lots of tire-rubbing and car-to-car contact.
For instance, for eight laps prior to the halfway mark, fans were delighted that the race leader and the second-place runner were Canadians Tagliani and Tracy.
Tagliani inherited the lead when Franchitti went to the pits for tires and fuel. Tracy barged his way all the way up to second from his 15th-place starting position and he did it in typical Tracy style. Toronto Star
You could hear the air go out of the collective lungs of the pro-Tracy crowd, who remember when Castroneves was awarded the 2002 Indianapolis 500 win over Tracy on a technicality (passing under a yellow flag).
But yesterday Tracy was strangely subdued in the aftermath of his latest clash with the Brazilian driver.
“He was trying to keep off the wall, I was trying to keep off the wall,” Tracy said. “We got into the turn and I thought he gave me enough room. We just touched wheels and we kind of just locked up and that was it.”
With a little prodding, however, Tracy did say the wreck was Castroneves’s fault.
“He left the inside wide open. He wasn’t going to make it to the end on fuel. He was saving fuel. I was on full rich (running wide open). I could see that he was lifting (off the accelerator).”
“But it was just one of those things. It is a slippery corner.”
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While Tracy was accepting cheers from the hometown fans, Castroneves came in for a much different greeting when he came back to his pit road stall.
“(Tracy) would be the last guy I would have taken out here in Canada,” Castroneves said.
“What happened is his car touched me and I just lost control. I would never do anything like that, especially for this guy in Canada.”
“You can hear those boos. I still love Canada, don’t get me wrong. It’s the way it is. People hate, people love you.” London Free Press
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