Honda Indy Toronto to sponsor Paul Tracy

Last year, when the Honda Indy returned to Toronto, there was (to put it mildly) a lack of promotion and the race organizers – indeed, even the title sponsor – were roundly criticized for it.

I was among the boo-birds, although I wasn’t as critical as some. When I did an interview with Alex Tagliani recently, he set me straight on a lot of things I hadn’t considered. Said Tag (in so many words): Last year was a trial run. They had to find out what they had to do to start the rebuilding process. This year will be better.

He was right.

The latest in what is an impressive round of promotional announcements came late yesterday when it was announced the Honda Indy Toronto will be title sponsor of Paul Tracy’s car in the Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, N.Y., July 2-4.

Watkins Glen attracts a large crowd for the annual Indy car stop there and the race will be broadcast in the United States by ABC. Which means sponsoring Tracy can only be seen as a smart marketing move.

Now, the Honda Indy Edmonton has sponsored Tagliani in previous years (and this one, too), but this is the first time the Honda Indy Toronto has gotten involved with car sponsorship and it’s another bright spot in their buildup to the big race here July 16-18.

Yesterday’s release said Tracy would race at the Glen for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, whose regular driver, Mike Conway, was badly injured at this year’s Indianapolis 500. The release continued:

Tracy, the 2003 Champ Car World Series champion, will be making his ninth IZOD IndyCar Series start and his second at Watkins Glen International. He is one of the most successful drivers in Indy car racing with 31 career victories.

"It's obviously a good feeling to get more races, especially being able to race at the Glen and building up momentum before going into the Canadian events," said Tracy, whose sponsorship package for the Watkins Glen race includes wheel manufacturer Motegi Racing. "It's also great to have the support of Honda Indy Toronto for this race as well.

"I'm really excited about working with Robbie Buhl again and to get to work with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. I've known Robbie (a part-owner of Dreyer & Reinbold) since when we competed against each other in the Indy Lights Series. It's very exciting to branch out with another team I haven't been with before and I'm looking forward to a good weekend."

"We are very happy to have Paul drive for us," Buhl said. "He's a great driver and a big personality and we are thrilled to have him driving for us in Watkins Glen. We were extremely strong there last year and with Paul's racing experience and him being teamed up with Justin Wilson (the team’s other driver), we feel that we'll have an extremely strong package for the weekend.

"We obviously wish that Mike could be with us, but we just want him to have a quick recovery. Paul was a perfect fit and we couldn't be happier to have him behind the wheel."

Wilson is the defending race winner, having taken a Dale Coyne Racing entry to Winner's Circle in 2009. It was Coyne's first Indy car victory as an owner.

Comments

[ecg29]

i'm glad to see your a reporter and not in marketing. this is by far a big waste of money sponsoring tracy at the glen. tv viership both in the us and canada are down. in the Us no body cares and canada you have to be psychic to figure out when a IRL race is on tv. ive seen very little advertising for the toronto race and we are less then a month away from race weekend. i would have used that money to promote the race in the Toronto market. the promotors of the toronto race have done a poor job in the first two years. they did a great job sucking in the provincial goverment and the city of toronto for funding. I'm surprise you bought into Tags comment about the promotors thinking. last year wasn't there first rodeo, they have been in the motorsports bussiness for sometime. i'm surpries that a season writer such as yourself would even agree to Tag's comments. lets be blunt, the management team that the owners have put in place in toronto from the GM downword have down a poor job.thats the bottom line. i would be surpries if they draw 60,000 paying customers. Free entry to Fridyas race is your first indicator that ticket sales are looking bad.

[dj]

"Watkins Glen attracts a large crowd for the annual Indy car stop"...maybe because it's a real race track,the Toronto race needs to be move to Mosport.

[David White]

same OLD Canadian drivers...who cares!!!