Autopedia
Advertisement

George Dario Marino Franchitti[1] (born 19 May 1973) is a Scottish racing driver. 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. Franchitti is also a former NASCAR driver for Chip Ganassi Racing, competing until mid-2008 when his team shut down.[2] Franchitti returned to the IndyCar Series for the 2009 season, driving the #10 Target Honda/Dallara for Target Chip Ganassi Racing.[3] He is the current, four-time IndyCar Series champion after claiming a third title in 2010 and fourth title in 2011 in addition to his 2007 and 2009 titles. On 30 May 2010, he won his second Indianapolis 500 race. He is the second driver in IndyCar Series history to take four titles in four consecutive series of racing, after Sébastien Bourdais, after accounting for his 2008 absence from the series. On 27 May 2012, he won his third Indianapolis 500 race.

He also competed in the American Le Mans Series for Andretti Green Racing with his brother Marino and former IndyCar Series teammate Bryan Herta. He won the 2007 BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year award. Franchitti was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland.

Early career[]

While attending Stewart's Melville College in Edinburgh, Franchitti became interested in karting. Allan McNish credited a large part of the start given to himself, Franchitti and David Coulthard as being down to David Leslie senior and junior.[4] Franchitti won the Karting 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.

Franchitti performed test driver duties for the Jaguar F1 team under his mentor Jackie Stewart in the 2000 Formula One season, but was not able to secure a drive in the World Championship.

CART[]

File:FranchittiCar.JPG

Dario's car being pushed up to qualify for the 2006 Indianapolis 500.

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 at Surfers Paradise. In 1998 he joined Team Green (forerunner to Andretti Green Racing and the current Andretti Autosport), finishing third in the season standings with three wins (his first coming at Road America) and a season-high five pole positions.

Franchitti finished runner-up in the 1999 CART season behind rookie 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 at Cleveland in 2001. In 2002 he won the Vancouver Molson Indy. He dedicated his win to Greg Moore, who was killed in 1999 and was from Vancouver, British Columbia. He finished fourth in Champ Car in 2002.

IndyCar Series[]

File:Franchitti1.JPG

Franchitti waiting to qualify on 12 May 2007, at Indianapolis.

File:DarioFranchittiMay2007Practice.jpg

Practicing for the 2007 Indy 500.


2003[]

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.[5][6] Franchitti missed most of the year, and his place was taken by Dan Wheldon at Motegi,[7] Robby Gordon at Indianapolis,[8] and Bryan Herta for the remainder of the year (with Wheldon taking over a regular role from retiring team boss Michael Andretti).

2004[]

Franchitti returned to the cockpit in 2004, and won his first IRL IndyCar Series race on 25 July at the Milwaukee Mile.[9] He followed this win up with a win at Pikes Peak on 22 August.[10]

2005[]

Franchitti returned to Andretti Green Racing again, and had 2 wins. The first win came at Nashville.[11] His last win of the year came at the 2005 season finale at California.[12]

2007[]

On 3 January 2007, Andretti Green Racing announced that Franchitti had re-signed for the IRL team for a tenth consecutive season in American Open Wheel racing.[13] That year he also undertook a limited programme in the American Le Mans Series driving an Acura ARX-01, teaming up with his younger brother, Marino Franchitti and long-time AGR team-mate Bryan Herta.[14] On 27 May 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 won the IndyCar Championship 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.

Franchitti returned to the IndyCar series for 2009 in the Target Chip Ganassi Racing #10 car, replacing Dan Wheldon who moved to Panther Racing. He debuted for the team in the non points race at Surfers Paradise in Australia on 25 October 2008. He qualified 4th of 24 drivers and was running third when he spun and stalled the car, resulting in a lap-down finish of 16th. He led 2 laps and set the fastest lap of the race.

2008[]

Franchitti missed the 2008 Indianapolis 500 as he pursued a NASCAR career. He rejoined the IndyCar Series in 2009 with Target Ganassi Racing and went on to win his second and third IndyCar titles in 2009 and 2010.

2009[]

2009 marked a successful return to Indycar for Dario scooping five wins, two second and two third placings and taking the series championship in his second consecutive attempt over teammate Scott Dixon by 11 points.

2010[]

Franchitti got off to a steady if unspectacular start; through the first 5 races, Dario had 1 pole, 3 Top 5 finishes and 4 Top 10s. However, at the 94th running of the Indianapolis 500, it all came together for him. Starting on the outside of the first row (#3), Franchitti had the best car of the day, leading over 150 laps to take his 2nd win in the past four years. This is also his 24th win in American Open-wheel driving, placing him in the top 20 all-time. The win also makes him the 18th multiple-win driver in the history of the Indianapolis 500.[15]

In October, Franchitti will travel to Australia to compete in a special round of the V8 Supercar championship in which he and 17 other international drivers will pair up with regular V8 drivers in two Template:Convert/ endurance races at the Gold Coast Street Circuit, a former venue for Indycar. He will drive for Jim Beam Racing with Steve Johnson.

By finishing eighth in the 2010 Izod Indycar series championship final at the Homestead Miami Speedway, and leading the most laps on top of qualifying in pole position, Dario overhauled Will Power's 12 points lead and took the 2010 Izod Indycar championship. In effect Dario had won all of the past three championships he entered when his 2008 absence is accounted for.

2011[]

Franchitti, again driving for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, won the season opening road race at St. Petersburg, Florida. He followed that win with additional wins at Texas Motor Speedway (28th victory). He took the pole and the win in the Milwaukee 225 for his 29th victory, tying him with Rick Mears for 9th all-time in American Open Wheel racing. At the final race of the season in Las Vegas, a 15 car crash on lap 12 caused the race to be red flagged. After two hours of red flag, IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard announced the death of Dan Wheldon, and the race was formally ended. The drivers who were able to do so participated in a 5 lap tribute to Wheldon 10 minutes after the announcement.[16] Because the race was canceled, Franchitti — who entered the race with an 18-point lead over Power in the title standings— won his third consecutive IndyCar championship and fourth overall. Power was involved in the pileup; therefore the accident had no effect on the championship contenders when the race was cancelled.

2012[]

Franchitti, again driving for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, had a slow start in the first four races. On May 27, he had an emotional win of the 2012 Indianapolis 500. In reference to Dan Wheldon, Franchitti said in an interview after the race, “I think D-Dub would have been proud of that one.” [17]

NASCAR[]

File:Dario Franchitti at Homestead-Miami.jpg

Dario Franchitti racing in the 2007 Ford 300 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

File:Dario Franchitti 2008 Daytona.jpg

Franchitti at Daytona in 2008

On 3 October 2007, it was announced that Franchitti would move to NASCAR to replace David Stremme in the #40 Fastenal Dodge.[18] He made his stock car debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series on 5 October at Talladega Superspeedway, qualifying 6th and finishing 17th in the #42 Target Dodge Charger for Chip Ganassi Racing.[19] His move to stock cars had similarities to former CART rival Juan Pablo Montoya's move from Formula One to NASCAR in 2006.

Franchitti made his first NASCAR start on 20 October 2007 in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway.[20] He drove the #41 Target Dodge Ram truck, owned by Cunningham Motorsports, with Brian Pattie from Chip Ganassi Racing serving as crew chief.[21] He would finish 33rd after being plagued by problems with the rear of the car during the race.

File:Dario Franchitti Dodge Journey Charger.jpg

2008 Sprint Cup car

On 26 April 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.[22] David Stremme, Ken Schrader, Jeremy Mayfield, and Sterling Marlin all filled in for him.[23][24][25]

On 1 July 2008, Franchitti's #40 Sprint Cup team was disbanded by co-owner Chip Ganassi because of a lack of sponsorship. Franchitti was running 41st in points in the Sprint Cup series at the time, and Ganassi had been funding the team out of his own pocket. The entire #40 team was shut down, and 71 employees were released.[26]

On 9 August 2008 Dario won his 1st ever NASCAR Nationwide Pole at Watkins Glen.[27]

Sports Car Racing[]

Dario is well known for combining partial Sports Car racing schedules during his IndyCar and NASCAR career.

At the 2007 12 Hours of Sebring he finished 1st in LMP2 class at the 2007 12 Hours of Sebring with Andretti Green Racing team-mates Bryan Herta and Tony Kanaan. They finished 2nd overall. He also participated in the 2007 ALMS Grand Prix of Long Beach with Bryan Herta and they finished 6th.[28] He placed 18th in LMP2 class in the 2007 American Le Mans Series season standings with 32 points.

Prior to the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, he joined Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas and won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in a Lexus-Riley.[29] That was the only race he participated in during the 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series season and finished 42nd overall in Daytona Prototype class with 35 points.

In the 2008 Petit Le Mans he was a driver for Highcroft Racing with Scott Sharp and David Brabham.[30] They were the first retirement after only 16 laps.

For the 2009 Rolex 24 At Daytona he once again drove for Chip Ganassi Racing in a Lexus-Riley. He finished 5th overall with Scott Dixon and Alex Lloyd.

He participated in the 2009 12 Hours of Sebring for Highcroft Racing with Scott Sharp and David Brabham.[31] They finished 15th overall and were the first non-finishers.

He returned to Highcroft Racing with Scott Sharp and David Brabham for the 2009 Petit Le Mans.[32]

Personal life[]

File:DarioAndAshley.JPG

Franchitti relaxes at Indy with his wife, Ashley Judd, in 2007

Franchitti married American actress Ashley Judd in 2001, at Skibo Castle near Dornoch, Scotland.[33] They currently live near Franklin, Tennessee, in the United States.

Franchitti is the son of Marina and George Franchitti.[34] Most of his ancestry is Italian, with some Scottish.[35] His parents were both born in Scotland.[36] Originally from Bathgate, his family moved to nearby Whitburn when he was eight years old. He is a former pupil of Stewart's Melville College and he supports Celtic Football Club.[37]

He lists some of his favourite television shows as Gavin & Stacey, Shameless and Rab C. Nesbitt.[38]

His brother is Marino Franchitti, while Paul di Resta, a racing driver, is a cousin of Franchitti. Di Resta is a current race driver for the Force India F1 Team.

Media Appearances[]

Franchitti has appeared on several television shows. The list includes The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet, Larry King Live, Pardon the Interruption, Late Show with David Letterman, Live with Regis and Kelly, Jim Rome is Burning, and three times on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.[39]

Simraceway Game Design[]

On 13 October 2011, 3 days before Franchitti’s bid for a fourth IZOD IndyCar Series title, it was announced that he would be joining fellow driver Dan Wheldon in developing the vehicle physics on Ignite Game Technologies’ online auto racing game, Simraceway. A vintage car racing enthusiast, Franchitti will be focusing on ensuring the authenticity of the game’s historic and vintage cars “It’s almost impossible to describe the feeling you get inside when you’re behind the wheel of an old race car but what I hope to be able to do is use my knowledge and experience to help the team at Simraceway replicate how it feels to drive,”.[40]

Motorsports Career Results[]

Touring Car Racing[]

German Touring Car Championship[]

International Touring Car Championship[]

International V8 Supercar results[]

American open–wheel racing results[]

(key)

CART[]

* Franchitti and Juan Pablo Montoya tied on points in the championship, but Montoya was crowned champion because he won 7 races to Franchitti's 3.

IndyCar Series[]

1 Cancelled due to death of Dan Wheldon.
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win)**
Top 10s
(Non-podium)***
Indianapolis 500
Wins
Championships
7 2 135 19 21 26 33 3 (2007, 2010 & 2012) 4 (2007, 2009, 2010 & 2011)
** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes.
*** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.

Indianapolis 500[]

File:Franchitti2007.jpg

Franchitti en route to winning
the 2007 Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2002 Dallara Chevrolet 28 19 Team Green
2003 Sat out due to injury Andretti Green
2004 Dallara Honda 3 14 Andretti Green
2005 Dallara Honda 6 6 Andretti Green
2006 Dallara Honda 17 7 Andretti Green
2007 Dallara Honda 3 1 Andretti Green
2008 Did not enter
2009 Dallara Honda 3 7 Chip Ganassi Racing
2010 Dallara Honda 3 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
2011 Dallara Honda 9 12 Chip Ganassi Racing
2012 Dallara Honda 16 1 Chip Ganassi Racing

Sports Car Racing[]

American Le Mans Series results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)

Year Starts Wins
(Overall/Class)
Top Fives Top Tens Poles DNF Finish Start Rank
2007 2 0 / 1 1 / 1 2 / 2 2 / 2 0 4 / 3.5 1 / 1 18
Totals 2 0 / 1 1 / 1 3 / 3 2 / 2 2 4 / 3.5 1 / 1

Rolex Sports Car Series results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)

Stock Car Racing[]

NASCAR Sprint Cup results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Starts* Wins Top Fives Top Tens Poles DNF Finish Start Winnings Rank
2008 10 0 0 0 0 2 33.9 30.7 $930,376 42
Totals 10 0 0 0 0 2 33.9 30.7 $930,376 42
  • Data as of 23 June 2008.[41]

NASCAR Truck Series results[]

ARCA results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

References[]

  1. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named fullname
  2. "Lack of sponsorship forces Ganassi to shut down Franchitti's team". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=3469675. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  3. "Franchitti in, Wheldon out at Target Chip Ganassi Racing". Yahoo. http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=txganassifranchitti&prov=st&type=lgns. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  4. Allan McNish interview part 2 on qosfc.com
  5. Shea, Julian (29 May 2007). "Scot Dario becomes an American idol". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/6700913.stm. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  6. "Franchitti injured in bike crash". Scotsman. http://sport.scotsman.com/motorbikes/Franchitti-injured-in-bike-crash.2417267.jp. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  7. "Franchitti injured in motorbike crash". GrandPrix.com. http://www.gpmag.com/ns/ns10978.html. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 
  8. "Sports Round-up". London: Telegraph. 8 May 2003. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2401135/Sports-Round-up.html. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 
  9. "First IRL victory thrills Franchitti". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?id=1846330. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  10. "Franchitti gets second win; Rice has disaster". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1865293&type=story. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  11. "Franchitti feels right at home, wins in Nashville". CBS Sports. http://www.cbssports.com/autoracing/story/8651402/1. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  12. "Franchitti Leads Honda Sweep of Fontana Finale". Honda. http://world.honda.com/INDY/2005/17california/race/. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  13. Perez, A.J. (3 January 2007). "Franchitti back with Andretti Green Racing for 2007". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/irl/2007-01-03-franchitti-andretti_x.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  14. "The Franchitti factor". Indycar. http://www.indycar.com/news/story.php?story_id=7992. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 
  15. "Franchitti wins Indianapolis 500". ESPN.com. Associated Press (Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana: ESPN). 31 May 2010. http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/indycar/news/story?id=5234215. Retrieved 2010-05-31. 
  16. Dan Wheldon dies in crash at Las Vegas Indy 300
  17. "Dario Franchitti wins 3rd Indy 500". CNN. 28 May 2012. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/racing/wires/05/28/3010.ap.car.indycar.indianapolis.500.1st.ld.writethru.1674/. 
  18. "Franchitti announced as Chip Ganassi's NASCAR driver". Yahoo. http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=txfranchittinascar&prov=st&type=lgns. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  19. "Franchitti finishes 17th on ARCA debut". Autosport. 6 October 2007. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/63052. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  20. "Franchitti retires on NASCAR debut". Autosport. 20 October 2007. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/63513. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  21. Franchitti Enters Martinsville
  22. "Scots star Dario Franchitti escapes horror crash with broken ankle". Daily Record. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/motorsport-news/2008/04/28/scots-star-dario-franchitti-escapes-horror-crash-with-broken-ankle-86908-20397805/. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  23. Livingstone, Seth (28 April 2008). "Stremme will replace Franchitti for Talladega ride". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2008-04-27-stremme-franchitti_N.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  24. "Schrader to replace injured Franchitti at Richmond". TSN. http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/story/?id=236232. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  25. "Mayfield to drive No. 40 for injured Franchitti at Dover". NASCAR. http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/05/28/dfranchitti.jmayfield.dover.sub/index.html?eref=/rss/news/headlines/cup. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  26. "Franchitti loses drive in Nascar". BBC Sport. 2 July 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/7484716.stm. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  27. "Franchitti Takes Zippo 200 Pole". Watkins Glen. http://www.theglen.com/Articles/2008/08/Franchitti-Takes-Zippo-200-Pole.aspx. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  28. "Herta, Franchitti: Green-flag stop stuffed us". Crash.net. http://www.crash.net/alms/news/134199/1/herta_franchitti_green-flag_stop_stuffed_us.html. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  29. Cotton, Andrew (28 January 2008). "Dario Franchitti wins Daytona 24 Hours title". London: Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2290181/Dario-Franchitti-wins-Daytona-24-Hours-title.html. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  30. "Franchitti to enter Petit Le Mans". Autosport. 17 September 2008. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/70691. Retrieved 2009-07-16. 
  31. "Franchitti rejoins Highcroft for Sebring". Autosport. 25 January 2009. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72997. Retrieved 2009-07-16. 
  32. "ALMS: Franchitti Rejoins Highcroft For Petit Le Mans". Speed TV. http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/alms-franchitti-rejoins-highcroft-for-petit-le-mans/alms-franchitti-rejoins-highcroft-for-petit-le-mans. Retrieved 2009-10-12. 
  33. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BBC News
  34. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/the-west-of-lothian-question-an-interview-with-bathgates-s-hero-dario-franchitti-1-1302035
  35. [1]
  36. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing-interview--dario-franchitti-super-dario-driven--by-the-twin-forces-of-ancestry-1088095.html
  37. Eason, Kevin (29 May 2007). "Franchitti is a true American idol but his heart belongs to Glasgow". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article1851668.ece. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  38. "The west of Lothian question: An interview with Bathgates's hero Dario Franchitti". Scotland on Sunday. http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/motorsport/The-west-of-Lothian-question.4769123.jp. Retrieved 2009-07-16. 
  39. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1040029/
  40. IndyCar Champion Dario Franchitti Joins Simraceway(TM) Development Team. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/indycar-champion-dario-franchitti-joins-simracewaytm-development-team-2011-10-13
  41. NASCAR Career Stats

Sources[]

External links[]


Sporting positions
Preceded by:
Scott Dixon
IndyCar Series Champion
2009, 2010, 2011
Succeeded by:
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Preceded by:
Sam Hornish, Jr.
IndyCar Series Champion
2007
Succeeded by:
Scott Dixon
Advertisement