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CART Notebook Tracy not pleased with pit-road shuffle
TORONTO (AP) -- He's back in his hometown, and Paul Tracy feels like the odd man out in the Molson Indy. Tracy's pit is separated from teammates Dario Franchitti and Michael Andretti. The team moved away from its usual practice of averaging their qualifying positions in the previous race and determining pit positions so the three can be beside one another. That didn't sit well with the West Hill Thrill. "I'm down here and they're down there," Tracy said Friday after running sixth-fastest in practice. "I'm not very happy about it. I'm here in my hometown and it makes me look like I'm not part of the team." Tracy was the slowest qualifier two weeks ago in Cleveland because of a team decision to wait until rain let up. The rain never let up and he ended up with the last pit choice in Toronto. "I don't want to deal with the issue this weekend," said Tracy, who has seven top-10 finishes in nine career starts in Toronto. "My manager's here, and he'll talk with him [team owner Barry Green] about it. I just want to concentrate on my race car and get a good race in." That would be a welcome change. Tracy has failed to finish in five races, most recently because of engine failure in Cleveland, and that has dropped him to 11th in the standings from a tie at the top early in the season. Meanwhile, Franchitti has climbed to third and Andretti is sixth. Green played down the controversy. "I don't think it's a problem," Green said. "He'll be fine. Paul has had things turn out badly the past few races." Pop-off controversyThe heat that arose in June over a rule change might be resolved on Monday. CART CEO Joseph Heitzler said Friday he would make an announcement on the pop-off valve situation that surfaced just before the Detroit Grand Prix. Engine makers were upset about the timing of the rule change and protested before the race. CART maintained it notified engine manufacturers that all cars would be fitted with an extended manifold pressure relief valve starting at the Detroit Grand Prix. The valve regulates the amount of turbo boost, which controls horsepower. Toyota said CART notified it and the other two engine manufacturers, Ford and Honda, of the change on the Tuesday before the Detroit race. Ford and Honda disagreed. They said they were not told about the change until just before the first of two practice sessions on the Friday of the race. Honda held its nine cars out of the morning session and Ford protested by holding many of its drivers out of most of the two-hour session. Ford and Honda then officially protested the change and the protest was initially denied. However, they appealed and a panel of three judges upheld it after an eight-hour hearing. CART officials said they would explore alternative solutions for three races, until Aug. 8. Spark plugsHonda-powered drivers have won all three FedEx Championship Series events contested on temporary street circuits this year, getting victories from Helio Castroneves at Long Beach and Detroit, and Dario Franchitti at Cleveland. Overall, Honda-powered drivers have won 20 of the past 24 FedEx Championship Series events contested on temporary street circuits, dating to Alex Zanardi's victory at Long Beach on April 5, 1998. ... Series point leader Kenny Brack was to be on the guitar and Patrick Carpentier on drums Friday night for a charity event at Wayne Gretzky's Restaurant. ... The Molson Indy begins a run of five FedEx Championship Series events in six weeks, continuing with the Michigan 500 Presented by Toyota on July 22, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.
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