Tracy realistic about Edmonton goals

Tracy is hopeful of a good showing on familiar ground but played down his expectations of winning, although he hopes a strong result will help secure a deal for the rest of the season.

"We haven't set any type of goal like 'we have to win the race' or anything like that," said the 39-year-old. "Our expectation is to do well and there is always a possibility to win a race, anything can happen, but I haven't come here saying we've got to go and out run everybody because that would just be setting yourself up for disappointment.

"For me, this is an opportunity to get going. I haven't driven since Long Beach (in April) and we're taking it step by step. We're going to jump in to the deeo end here, but it's good to be back. I'm excited about the opportunity and if we can have a good result we'll see what develops for the future.

"That's really the first step in getting back into the series full time."

The event will be the first time the majority of IRL drivers have raced on the Canadian course, but Tracy expects the front runners to be up to speed quickly.

"I've raced against pretty much everybody in the series at one point or another," he said. "I've been here before, Justin (Wilson) and the other Champ Car guys have been here before, but at the top level in this game, guys like Scott (Dixon), Helio (Castroneves) and Tony (Kanaan) can learn a track in 15 minutes. The top teams will have it figured out by the time qualifying comes.

"It's kind of like Cleveland here, where if you're not on the pace you're really going to struggle. The car has got to be good to stay in front because it's not too difficult to pass."