Paul Tracy has confirmed that he will remain in the Champ Car World Series for the 2008 season and beyond, according to a report posted at gordonkirby.com.
Tracy told Kirby that a post-holiday meeting resulted in him working out his differences with Forsythe/Pettit Racing team owner Gerald Forsythe, and that his effort will be led by former Newman/Haas/Lanigan assistant team manager Kenny Siwieck.
"The result of the meeting is that Kenny Siwieck is now in charge of my car and everything is squared away with me and Jerry," said Tracy, the 2003 CART/Champ Car series champion and the series' most winning active driver. "Everything is fine between us. I went into the meeting believing that Jerry was going to renegotiate my contract to a very low amount or I would leave. And the conversation never even went that way. It was never brought up."
Tracy, 39, has won only one race since 2005 and prior to Christmas, it was rumored that Forsythe, in conjunction with new team partner Dan Pettit, wanted to rebuild his Champ Car team from top to bottom.
The hiring of Siwieck, who is familiar to Champ Car fans as the strategist and radio man for Sebastien Bourdais' record four consecutive series championships, is the key element in Forsythe's rebuilding plan. Neil Micklewright will continue as Forsythe/Pettit Racing's general manager while overseeing the team's second and potential third cars.
Tom Brown, who worked with Tracy during his years at Penske Racing in the 1990s, will continue as Forsythe/Pettit Racing's technical director.
"We've cleared the air and are committed and going forward," Siwieck said. "It was very frustrating dealing with all the misinformation that was going around. There was a lot of 'he said, she said' stuff, and I said the only way we're going to resolve these issues is to sit down and have a face-to-face meeting, and that's what we did. We resolved any differences and we're moving forward with Paul.
"It's a wonderful opportunity for me," added Siwieck, who worked for Carl Haas for the last eighteen years. "The resources and personnel here are world class and I'm very excited with the opportunity to show what this organization can do. I've had the good fortune to have Mr. Forsythe provide me with this new challenge in my career and I've got his full support."
Champ Car begins preseason testing at Sebring International Raceway on Feb. 2, with the season set to kick off with the 34th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 20.
John Oreovicz covers open-wheel racing for National Speed Sport News and ESPN.com.