EDMONTON - Canadian auto racing legend Paul Tracy will run his first practice lap Thursday in a car he's never been in before in his first open-wheel race in almost four months as part of a one-shot attempt to determine his IndyCar future.

In other words, Tracy said Wednesday, no pressure. "We all want to do well, our expectations are to do well, but I haven't set any type of goal on myself that we have to win the race," Tracy told a news conference in advance of Saturday's Rexall Edmonton Indy (5 p.m. ET) at the City Centre Airport. "We're just going to take it step by step every day. From my standpoint, this is my opportunity to get back in the (IndyCar) series."

The 39-year-old Toronto-born Tracy was left without a ride this year when the old Champ Car World Series folded into the IndyCar circuit to reunifiy open-wheel racing in North America.

The man nicknamed the "Thrill from West Hill" was still under contract to Forsythe Racing, which did not join the merger.

He raced once this season in Long Beach, Calif., to finish up his contract with Forsythe, but had otherwise been idle until Walker Racing and Vision Racing teamed up with sponsor Subway to get him a one-off ride in Edmonton.

Tracy, famous for an aggressive, in-your-face driving style, has 31 career wins and 262 career starts.

He has raced three times for Champ Car in Edmonton, finishing in the top five every time.

Tracy said it's critical he qualify Friday in the top 10 to keep his black, white and yellow No. 22 car with the leaders on Edmonton's wide-open 14-turn, 1.96 mile (3.1-kilometre) circuit.

"You really have to be quick here to do well," he said. "If you're not on the pace, you're really going to struggle, so from that standpoint the car's got to be good here.

"To stay at the front you have to have the pace to do well because it's not that difficult to pass."

The airport/street course, he said, will also punish lighter drivers like the 100-pound Danica Patrick.

"There's no rest here at all," he said. "The only one straightaway you have here you have a chicane in the middle of it that's flat out with a big giant bump in the middle, which launches the car."

He said it's also best to avoid the crowded back of the 27-car field in a league that has seen numerous caution flags and two races finish under caution this season.

"When you get in the back and everything restarts, the guy in the front goes, and they stop and go, and everybody is tensed up wanting to go - it's a lot easier to get in an accident than it appears on TV."

Tracy was quizzed extensively on Patrick, IndyCar's marketing sensation who made headlines and generated thousands of web-video hits over the weekend for her latest run-in with a fellow driver, this time Venezuelan Milka Duno.

The spat beside Duno's pit stall during practice for the Mid-Ohio race showed Patrick walking over and confronting Duno for driving slowly and blocking her.

Duno, a part-time driver who is not racing in Edmonton, is seen shouting back, swearing and twice throwing a hand towel at Patrick.

"Catfight!" shouted coast-to-coast headlines.

Tawdry or not, it's good for the sport, said Tracy.

"When you see the opening story on ESPN on TV is Danica and Milka Duno, that makes it a big deal. That's what the series needs to do to get to the next level."

Danica, he added, has a lot of desire to win and is willing to face down her detractors.

"She obviously has a pretty quick fuse and isn't afraid to show that. I don't mind at all. I'm that way too. Kind of takes the attention away from me a little bit."

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