Franchitti Leaves the Others Behind
By Bruce Martin
October 10, 2009
HOMESTEAD, Florida – Team Penske president Tim Cindric said it best when asked to describe the remarkable comeback story of 2009 IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti.
“He left the series as a champion in 2007 and he returned to the series as a champion tonight,” Cindric said of the Target/Chip Ganassi Racing driver. “The smart guy wins the race some days and sometimes fate comes into play. Who would have thought there wouldn’t be a yellow flag? They had two bullets in their gun and we had one. The strategy played out for Dario today and that is racing.”
In the fastest race of the IndyCar Series season – and the first time in series history the race was caution-free -- Franchitti claimed the 2009 championship by getting more miles out of his fuel tank than any other driver.
Franchitti’s victory in Saturday night’s Firestone Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway gave him his second-straight IndyCar Series title only with a twist – he did not compete in the series in 2008.
When Franchitti was able to get 52 laps out of his final tank of fuel, he moved into first when race-leader Ryan Briscoe had to stop for fuel just five laps from the finish, ending his hopes at winning the championship. Two laps before, Franchitti’s Target/Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon had to pit for fuel, ending his hopes of winning his second-straight IndyCar championship and his third overall.
And in a strange twist of fate, Franchitti’s second IndyCar title was sealed when he was able to make it to the checkered while his closest pursuers could not.
“Like 2007, I just had to save some fuel and stay on strategy,” Franchitti said. “And it just worked out. We lost so much ground after the second (fuel) stint. We were saving fuel. We were sticking to our strategy. A win is a win.”
Franchitti’s championship came 10 years after a crushing blow when the driver from Scotland finished the CART season in a tie with Juan Pablo Montoya but lost the championship on a tie-breaker because Montoya had seven victories to Franchitti’s three.
But that disappointment paled in comparison to the death of Franchitti’s closest friend, Greg Moore, who was killed earlier in that race at California Speedway when he lost control of his car in the second turn and slammed into the infield wall.
That horrible anniversary was remembered by Franchitti after taking the checkered flag.
“On the cool-down lap I was thinking of my buddy Greg Moore,” Franchitti said. “I was in a championship fight 10 years ago, but it didn’t matter because we lost him. This one is for him. Ten years ago we were in the battle with Juan for the championship and it came down to Fontana. I lost my best friend that day. I think about Greg all the time but especially today at this track. Greg won his last race here and we had the party to end all parties after that one. We lost a great guy that day at Fontana. I miss him.”
It’s also another championship for team owner Chip Ganassi – his third in the IndyCar Series and his seventh overall counting four CART titles from 1996-99.
"I’ve got to thank Chip for giving me a job,” Franchitti said.
While Helio Castroneves’ remarkable comeback from the adversity of his federal tax evasion trial to his third Indianapolis 500 victory made him the comeback driver of the spring, the true “Comeback Kid” for the season was Franchitti.
He won the IndyCar title for Andretti Green Racing in 2007 and left the series to sign a NASCAR contract with Ganassi. But his days as a stock car driver were filled with frustration, including a broken ankle from a crash in a Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2008.
By the end of June, Franchitti’s NASCAR dream ended when his car was parked for lack of sponsorship. But Ganassi wasn’t finished with Franchitti. When it was determined that Dan Wheldon would not return as the driver of the No. 10 car, Ganassi offered the ride to Franchitti. Franchitti was back in IndyCar and made the most of his second opportunity.
“We were in Detroit on Labor Day Weekend and Dario was there watching his brother race in the American Le Mans Series,” Ganassi said. “It was a heartbreaker that we could not find sponsorship for him in NASCAR. The seat became available and Dario was in Detroit. I told him if he wanted the seat, it was his -- just let me know in a couple hours. There are a lot of guys that can win races but not a lot of guys that can win championships. That’s just the kind of guy Dario is. It takes quite a driver to have the ability to maintain his composure in a race the way it played out today.”
Ganassi cashed in with another title and a season where his two drivers won 10 races.
“When I look back at the season we started out wanting to win the championship,” Ganassi said. “We walked into the race meeting today saying `We’re 1-2 in the championship. If you don’t enjoy this, you won’t enjoy anything.’ I’m the luckiest owner in the paddock. I’ve got two great drivers and a great sponsor. We challenged our team to work on a tighter budget and the guys all came through and did it.”
Franchitti became the third driver to win multiple IndyCar Series championships. Sam Hornish, Jr. leads with three (2001, 2002 and 2006). Dixon has two (2003 and 2003).
Franchitti and Dixon finished first and second in the point standings this season with Franchitti winning by 11 points – the third-closest margin in series history. Just 12 points separated the top three finishers in the IndyCar Series championship – the third-closest in IndyCar history.
Briscoe’s strategy was to race to the front and lead the most laps in the race. He accomplished that by leading four times for 103 laps. Dixon was in front three times for 70 laps.
“I really saw Scott as the strongest car,” Briscoe said. “To win the championship, I was going to have to lead some laps and race him pretty hard. It was great, a lot of fun. I can’t believe there wasn’t a yellow – I wish there was. Unfortunately for us, Dario, played the fuel strategy the best and was able to make it on a three-stop race.
“We pitted early on the first stint and I started really getting loose. We chose to pit a few laps earlier than we could. That set off the strategy for the rest of the day. I was running my race and doing what we had to do in regards to Scott. It was a team decision to do what we needed to do to go for it. We pitted a lot later for that last load of fuel than I was expecting to. When I came out of the pits Roger Penske (team owner) told me to just bring it home. That is when it sunk in.”
That’s because lurking in the background was Franchitti, who employed a fuel-saving strategy and was in front five times for 25 laps.
“We were only able to run 48 laps on a tank of fuel and fighting for those two extra points to lead the most laps is probably what did us in,” Dixon said. “Dario went to the ultimately strategy to save fuel. It sucks to finish third in the race today and second in the championship but it was a great race. Nobody put it in the fence and that wasn’t good for us because we didn’t get a caution.”
At 36, Franchitti is the oldest champion in IndyCar history. He may also be one of the best to ever drive an IndyCar in the Indy Racing League era of the sport that began in 1996.
“A man who worked for me for a long time, Morris Nunn, used to say, `You always have to take the best guy available,’” Ganassi said. “That’s what we did with Dario. If you don’t think you are putting your team together to win a championship, I don’t know why you are in this business. You put a team together to win; not to lose.”
A failed attempt at NASCAR made Franchitti available to do what he did best by return to the IndyCar Series and returning as a champion.
“I’m just glad they invited me back to play,” Franchitti said. “There is a certain sweetness having gone through what I did in NASCAR. I’ve been very lucky. It was a good lesson to learn what the other side of the fence looked like.”
In Franchitti’s case, the grass is certainly greener on the IndyCar side of the fence.
