Tracy, Tagliani continue war of words

TORONTO (CP) - The war of words between Canadian Champ Car drivers Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani shows no signs of abating.

The two, who traded barbs in a pair of newspaper columns following an on-track incident last Sunday in Cleveland, continued their feud at a news conference Thursday in advance of the Molson Indy.

Tracy sniped "Alex, who?" when asked about the Quebec driver, adding: "When he wins a race, I might give him a little respect."

"That's unbelievable," countered Tagliani.

"If you have to win a race to be respected, then we only have to respect Paul Tracy," he added sarcastically.

On Sunday, Tracy accused Tagliani of instigating a first-lap incident that knocked the defending series champion out of the Cleveland race. Tracy claimed that Tagliani's move cost him whatever chance he had at repeating as series champion.

Tagliani said officials had cleared him of any wrongdoing, adding it sounded like Tracy was a quitter if he was giving up on the season already.

The series resumes this weekend, with qualifying set for Friday and Saturday, and the race Sunday.