Emmo to announce retirement soon
SpeedCenter has received an unconfirmed report that Emerson Fittipaldi will indeed retire from racing and anannouncement is forthcoming. Fittipaldi broke his neck in a horrific crash at Michigan Speedway during theMarlboro 500 race in July 1996 and was unable to complete the season.

The report also said that Carl Hogan will join on with Team Penske and assist with Paul Tracy's effort for the1997 PPG Championship.

Tracy ready for '97 Season
Paul Tracy says he's ready for the 1997 CART PPG World Series season after a poor 1996season when he finished 13th overall despite driving a top car.

"I really am feeling a lot better about how I'm racing," Tracy said Thursday."I had a great Christmas break and got to run the car over the break. It'sbeen working really well and I'm pretty excited about the year coming up.It's going to be busy and I'm prepared for it."

Team Penske has been testing at Firebird Raceway in Arizona and more recentlyat the new California Speedway.

The Team Penske driver said he's put his energy into testing the car, whichhas been retro-fitted to meet new CART safety rules.

"The new car's been working real well," Tracy said."Everybody's pretty focused.... I know (teammate) Al is,myself, the whole team, all the engineers. We've been hitting it really hardand testing the car hard and we have a lot more tests to come in the nextthree weeks."

As part of his prepartions for 1997, Tracy has been working on hiscardiovascular fitness. He said his back, injured in a crash last July,hasn't been a major issue, so far.

"I'm pretty much fully recovered," Tracy said. "It still gets a little soreonce in a while."

Paul Tracy first driver on new California Speedway
Team Penske driver, Paul Tracy of became the first driver onFriday to run on the new 3.2-kilometre (two-mile) oval race track at theCalifornia Speedway.

Tracy drove a 1996 Mercedes for 19 laps on the 2.0-milesuperspeedway and four laps on the 1.3-mile road course.

"It felt great to be the first driver on the new track," said Tracy. "It'sreally a first-rate facility and it should make for some great racing inSeptember."