Dario Franchitti
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| Born | May 19, 1973 | ||||||
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| Hometown | Bathgate, Scotland, UK | ||||||
| Achievements | 2007 Indianapolis 500 Champion 2007 in IRL Indy Racing League Champion | ||||||
| Awards | 1992 McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year | ||||||
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series statistics | |||||||
| First race | 2008 Daytona 500 (Daytona) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Nationwide Series statistics | |||||||
| Car #, team | #40 - Chip Ganassi Racing | ||||||
| 2007 NNS position | 95th | ||||||
| Best NNS position | 95th (2007) | ||||||
| First race | 2007 Sam's Town 250 (Memphis) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series statistics | |||||||
| First race | Kroger 200 (Martinsville) | ||||||
| Last race | Kroger 200 (Martinsville) | ||||||
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| Statistics current as of April 2 2008. | |||||||
Dario Franchitti (b May 19, 1973 in Bathgate, West Lothian) is a NASCAR Nationwide Series driver of the #40 Fastenal Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing. He formerly competed in the CART series before switching to the IndyCar Series where he was 2007 champion, and won the rain-shortened 2007 Indianapolis 500. He also competed in the American Le Mans Series for Andretti Green Racing with his brother Marino and former IndyCar Series teammate Bryan Herta. Franchitti drives the #40 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge Charger full time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and part time in the Nationwide Series.
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[edit] Career history
[edit] Early career
Franchitti began his racing career in karts, winning the Scottish Junior Championship in 1984, the British Junior Championships in 1985 and 1986 and the Scottish senior title in 1988. He progressed to Formula Vauxhall Junior where he won the championship with four victories in 1991.
He moved up to Formula Vauxhall Lotus in 1992, where he joined Paul Stewart Racing. In his first year, he finished fourth in the overall championship, and was named the McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year. Staying with the team for the next season, he won the championship in 1993.
He graduated to the British Formula Three Championship in 1994, where he finished fourth and won one race in his first year. However, he was not retained for 1995 which was his final year in single-seaters in Europe.
Instead, Franchitti was contracted by AMG Racing to drive a works Mercedes C-Class in the German Touring Car Championship and the related International Touring Car Championship, where he finished fifth and third respectively. He continued in the ITC in 1996, finishing fourth overall with one race win.
[edit] CART
With the demise of the ITC, Mercedes placed Franchitti in Hogan Racing in 1997, making his US debut in the PPG/CART Champ Car World Series where his best finish was a ninth. In 1998 he joined Team Green (forerunner to the current Andretti Green Racing), finishing third in the season standings with three wins and five pole-positions.
Franchitti finished runner-up in the 1999 CART series behind Juan Pablo Montoya. Both drivers scored 212 points, but Montoya had seven wins to Franchitti's three and was crowned champion. Franchitti's close friend Greg Moore died in a crash during the final race of the year at California Speedway in Fontana, California.
A heavy crash in pre-season testing the next year ruined Franchitti's 2000 season, and he only won once in 2001. In 2002 he won the Vancouver Molson Indy. He dedicated his win to Greg Moore, who lived in Vancouver before dying in 1999. He finished fourth in Champ Car in 2002.
[edit] IRL
Franchitti moved with the Andretti Green team to the IndyCar Series in 2003 but his season was ended by a back injury sustained in a motorcycle accident while on holiday in Scotland. Franchitti missed most of the year, and his place was taken by Dan Wheldon at Motegi, Robby Gordon at Indianapolis and Bryan Herta for the remainder of the year (with Wheldon taking over a regular role from retiring team boss Michael Andretti). Franchitti returned to the cockpit in 2004, and won races at Milwaukee and Pikes Peak.
On January 3, 2007, Andretti Green Racing announced that Franchitti had re-signed for the IRL team for a tenth consecutive season in American Open Wheel racing. He also undertook a limited programme in the American Le Mans Series driving an Acura ARX01a, teaming up with his younger brother, Marino Franchitti amd long-time AGR team-mate Bryan Herta. [1]. On May 27, 2007, Franchitti won a rain-shortened Indianapolis 500, finishing under a yellow flag after an accident involving Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti following lap 163. The race was halted due to rain three laps later. His prize money of $1.6m was equal to the entire purse for the 1982 race.
During the 2007 season, Franchitti survived two huge crashes which saw his car flip upside down both times. The first at Michigan saw him tangle with Dan Wheldon resulting in his car flipping before being hit again by Scott Dixon. The contact with Dixon was only inches away from his head and the accident saw seven cars (including Franchitti) retire from the race. The second flip came a week later at Kentucky. As Franchitti crossed the start/finish line to finish the race, the Scotsman who had not realised the chequered flag had been waved continued to race and crashed into the back of Kosuke Matsuura flipping yet again and hitting the outside wall. Franchitti took full responsibility for the incident.
Franchitti finished 1st in points in the 2007 season with four wins finishing ahead of Scott Dixon by just 13 points. Dixon ran out of fuel on the last lap of the season-ending race, allowing Franchitti to take the win and the championship, his first championship win since Formula Vauxhall Lotus in 1993.
[edit] NASCAR
On October 3, 2007, it was announced that Franchitti would move to NASCAR to replace David Stremme in the #40 Fastenal Dodge. He made his stock car debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series on October 5 at Talladega Superspeedway, qualifying 6th and finishing 17th in the #42 Target Dodge Charger for Chip Ganassi Racing. His move to stock cars is similar to his good friend and former CART rival Juan Pablo Montoya's move from Formula 1 to NASCAR in 2006.[1]
Franchitti made his first NASCAR start on October 20, 2007 in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. He drove the #41 Target Dodge Ram truck, owned by Cunningham Motorsports, with Brian Pattie from Chip Ganassi Racing serving as crew chief.[2] He would finish 33rd after being plagued by rear end problems during the race.
Prior the 2008 season, he joined Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Montoya, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas and won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in a Lexus-Riley.
On April 26, 2008, Franchitti suffered a slight left ankle fracture in a hard crash with Larry Gunselman while competing in the Nationwide Series Aaron's 312 race. David Stremme, Ken Schrader, Jeremy Mayfield and Sterling Marlin all filled in for him until he recooperated.
[edit] Personal life
Franchitti married American actress Ashley Judd in 2001, at Skibo Castle near Dornoch, Scotland. They now reside near Franklin, Tennessee.
Though Bathgate-born, his family moved to Whitburn when he was eight years old. He is a former pupil of Stewart's Melville College.
