Champ Car Wrestling

If you have just started following the Champ Car World Series recently, you would have thought that it's yet another bizarre sports like chess-boxing, where the competitors take part in two totally different sports at the same time.

The last two races in San Jose and Denver were both highlighted by fisticuffs among drivers, and each time Canadian veteran Paul Tracy was in the middle of it.

And you would have thought that Tracy is the reigning champion of Champ Car Wrestling (at least for the "wrestling" part).

Two weeks ago in San Jose, Tracy locked up his brakes going into a chicane and went into the escape road, only for him to decide to go straight back out onto the track, without noticing the fast-approaching Canadian driver Alex Tagliani. Somehow Tracy inexplicably swerved across the track ("I was in panic mode and tried to give him room," claimed Tracy afterwards) and inevitably slammed Tagliani's car into the wall.

The fuming Tagliani managed to drive his damaged car back to the pit, and when he saw Tracy walking back to the pitlane, he confronted Tracy and after some verbal exchanges, a fight broke out and the tussling drivers fell into the ground in front of the TV cameras. Interestingly, Tracy punched Tagliani in the head with the helmet still on, strong evidence that he was indeed in panic (and clueless) mode.

Eventually, Tracy had points deducted, was fined and also put on probation for the next three races for his part in the incident. Meanwhile, Tagliani was also fined for the skirmish in the pitlane.

And in the very next race in Denver, Tracy was fighting with two-time defending champion Sebastien Bourdais of France for the second place. In the very last corner of the final lap, Bourdais, who was on the outside, pushed the "Pass Button" and was clearly ahead. Yet Tracy was not going to make life any easier for the Frenchman and tried to outbrake him, only for him to lock up his brakes and slid sideways into Bourdais' car, damaging both cars and making them unable to reach the finish line which was literally in sight. Within a matter of seconds, they were relegated from second and third to sixth and seventh respectively, costing Bourdais 12 points in the Championship standings.

Bourdais, whose main rival in the Championship is Tracy's teammate A.J. Allmendinger, was understandably angry. He ran across the track where the cars were still running at a high speed, and confronted Tracy, questioning his move and motive. When Tracy didn't give him a satisfactory answer, Bourdais gave him a good shove and turned away, having decided that he's already had a bad enough day. Meanwhile Tracy didn't back down, and gestured to Bourdais as if telling him to come back, take off the helmet and have a real fight.

What was Tracy thinking?

The most experienced driver in the series by far with over 200 starts and the Champion in 2003, Tracy has been involved in a number of controversies recently and most of his clashes involved Bourdais, the best driver in the series and his arch nemesis. In fact, Tracy claimed that Bourdais had knocked him out of five races last season and even said that "paybacks are a bitch".

With him still on probation due to the incident in San Jose, Tracy is likely to subject to further sanctions, including a well-deserved suspension. Yet with his Forsythe team having recently signed him to a new five-year deal which would keep him in the series until 2011 when he will turn 43, his fellow drivers will have no choice but to keep their fingers crossed.

But that would be great entertainment for racing fans like Yours Truly.