Long Beach, Calif. ? Paul Tracy will skip the Indianapolis 500 next month, and that’s fine with him.

Tracy, off to the best start of his CART career with victories in the first two Champ Car events this season, wants to win the series championship for the first time.

The last time an American open-wheel driver started the season with three straight victories was 1971, by Al Unser in the U.S. Auto Club Champ Car Series.

Tracy heads into today’s provisional qualifying for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach with an 11-point lead over Michel Jourdain Jr., who has finished second in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Monterrey, Mexico.

The Indy 500, which is part of the rival Indy Racing League and will be run May 25, holds little interest for Tracy, particularly after last year’s disputed finish.

The 500-mile race ended under caution, and Tracy still insists he passed winner Helio Castroneves seconds before the yellow lights went on.

IRL officials turned down a postrace protest and ruled against Tracy and then-car owner Barry Green in an ensuing appeal.

“It’s something that I don’t really think about from day to day,” the Canadian driver said. “But, you know, I still feel and know that based on the evidence that is there at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in their film department, I know that I won the race.

“It’s really politics that have dictated the outcome of the race. There’s really nothing I can do about it.”

When Michael Andretti and two others bought Green’s team late last season and announced their intention to move it to the IRL in 2003, Tracy found himself looking for a ride.

Going with Forsythe’s team was a gamble.

“A lot of people weren’t picking me as a favorite to win the championship before the season started and now we’ve had two races and I’m supposed to be the favorite,” Tracy said.