The following year, Tracy competed in his first IndyCar event at Long Beach, renting a vehicle from Dale Coyne Racing for $105,000.
Noticed by Roger Penske, at mid-season he became a test driver for Penske Racing.
In his first race for the team at Michigan he crashed and broke his left leg.
He recovered and raced twice more for the team during the season.
He was scheduled to start a selected number of races for Penske in 1992 and ended up starting 11 races, many of them as a substitute driver for the injured Rick Mears.
Mears announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 1992 season and Tracy replaced him in the #3 car.

His first full year of IndyCar competition came in 1993, where he won five times with his first win coming at Long Beach and the others at Cleveland, Toronto, Road America and Laguna Seca.
Tracy led the series in laps led and was voted most improved driver by his peers.
The 1994 season started out slowly for Tracy as he scored just two points in the first four races.
He rebounded from his poor start and finished on the podium in eight of the final twelve races with victories at Detroit, Nazareth, and Laguna Seca.
His third-place showing in the points gave Penske a sweep of the top three slots with Al Unser, Jr. winning the title and Emerson Fittipaldi second.

After Penske decided to return to running a two car team for 1995, Penske attempted to transfer Tracy's contract to Bettenhausen Motorsports, however, Tracy's father discovered a clause in his original contract that it could not be assigned, putting Penske in a bind.
Tracy tested for Benetton at Estoril in 1994, setting a faster time than Benetton drivers JJ Lehto and Jos Verstappen had managed for that year's Portuguese Grand Prix, and was only 0.7 sec off of Gerhard Berger's pole time for the same race.
Tracy was only offered a restrictive contract with few guarantees, and ultimately decided to stay in North America.
Tracy was permitted to sign with Newman/Haas Racing for the 1995 season for $1.5 million, with Penske holding an option after that year, where he won two races (Australia and Milwaukee) and finished 6th in the championship.

Penske, after a disappointing 1995, used his option and matched Newman/Haas's offer for the 1996 season of a four year contract of $3.5 million annually.
Tracy's return was a disappointment as he finished the season with no wins and 13th in the championship.
A back injury also forced him to miss two races.
1997 was a roller coaster season, with consecutive wins at Nazareth, Rio de Janeiro and Gateway putting him in the points lead.
The season went downhill soon after as he finished 26th or worse in each of the final five events to slip to fifth place in the championship.
After a disappointing finish in Toronto, Tracy referred to his car as a "piece of shit" to local media and also said that the Penske chassis was obsolete and that the team should switch tire manufacturers.
Penske waited until the end of the season before terminating Tracy for making detrimental remarks about the team and sponsors.
The following year, Tracy competed in his first IndyCar event at Long Beach, renting a vehicle from Dale Coyne Racing for $105,000. Noticed by Roger Penske, at mid-season he became a test driver for Penske Racing. In his first race for the team at Michigan he crashed and broke his left leg. He recovered and raced twice more for the team during the season. He was scheduled to start a selected number of races for Penske in 1992 and ended up starting 11 races, many of them as a substitute driver for the injured Rick Mears. Mears announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 1992 season and Tracy replaced him in the #3 car.
His first full year of IndyCar competition came in 1993, where he won five times with his first win coming at Long Beach and the others at Cleveland, Toronto, Road America and Laguna Seca. Tracy led the series in laps led and was voted most improved driver by his peers. The 1994 season started out slowly for Tracy as he scored just two points in the first four races. He rebounded from his poor start and finished on the podium in eight of the final twelve races with victories at Detroit, Nazareth, and Laguna Seca. His third-place showing in the points gave Penske a sweep of the top three slots with Al Unser, Jr. winning the title and Emerson Fittipaldi second.
After Penske decided to return to running a two car team for 1995, Penske attempted to transfer Tracy's contract to Bettenhausen Motorsports, however, Tracy's father discovered a clause in his original contract that it could not be assigned, putting Penske in a bind. Tracy tested for Benetton at Estoril in 1994, setting a faster time than Benetton drivers JJ Lehto and Jos Verstappen had managed for that year's Portuguese Grand Prix, and was only 0.7 sec off of Gerhard Berger's pole time for the same race. Tracy was only offered a restrictive contract with few guarantees, and ultimately decided to stay in North America. Tracy was permitted to sign with Newman/Haas Racing for the 1995 season for $1.5 million, with Penske holding an option after that year, where he won two races (Australia and Milwaukee) and finished 6th in the championship.
Penske, after a disappointing 1995, used his option and matched Newman/Haas's offer for the 1996 season of a four year contract of $3.5 million annually. Tracy's return was a disappointment as he finished the season with no wins and 13th in the championship. A back injury also forced him to miss two races. 1997 was a roller coaster season, with consecutive wins at Nazareth, Rio de Janeiro and Gateway putting him in the points lead. The season went downhill soon after as he finished 26th or worse in each of the final five events to slip to fifth place in the championship. After a disappointing finish in Toronto, Tracy referred to his car as a "piece of shit" to local media and also said that the Penske chassis was obsolete and that the team should switch tire manufacturers. Penske waited until the end of the season before terminating Tracy for making detrimental remarks about the team and sponsors.
Paul Tracy