In an example of the Tiantai exegetical strategy of 'disclosing the provisional to illuminate the ultimate'  開權顯實, the three tracks are equated with the three undesirable paths of transmigration 三道, namely, the hellish beings 那落迦, the hungry ghosts 餓鬼, and the non-human animals 傍生. This illustrates the idea, located by Tiantai 天台 authors in the Lotus Sutra 法華經, that even the suffering and affliction of those languishing in the three undesirable paths of transmigration can be recontextualized as experiences leading towards eventual buddhahood. That is, the suffering of those sentient beings in the three paths can have positive soteriological value if it serves to inculcate non-attachment and understanding of impermanence. The three tracks are further identified with the three merits 三德 of the dharma-body 法身, liberation 解脫, and wisdom 般若 and with the three causes of Buddha-nature 三因佛性 of Buddha-nature as cause of illumination 了因佛性, Buddha-nature as causal condition 緣因佛性, and Buddha-nature as proper cause 正因佛性.

References:

Ziporyn, Brook. 2014. “Tiantai Buddhism.”  In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/buddhism-tiantai/.