Back from NASCAR: Franchitti Wins IndyCar Championship

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- It was as if Dario Franchitti never left.

The 36-year old Scot returned from a don't-look-back 2008 NASCAR experiment to reclaim the IndyCar Series championship trophy he took with him, sealing the deal on his second title Saturday night in nearly identical fashion to how he earned the first in 2007.

While Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe and Franchitti's Target Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon traded the race lead and led the most laps in the Indy 300 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Franchitti laid back in third position, saved just enough fuel and inherited the lead when Briscoe and Dixon was forced to pit for fuel in the waning laps of the series' first ever caution-free race.

"I would describe it as horrifically wonderful,'' Franchitti's wife, actress Ashley Judd, said of nervously watching the final laps of the race, a scene reminiscent of his 2007 IndyCar championship when Franchitti clinched the title as Dixon ran out of gas on the final turn of the final lap.

"I think I was actually more pissed at that one,'' joked Dixon.

"It was one of the hardest and probably one of the best races I've run,'' said Briscoe, who led a race high 103 of the 200 laps, finished runner-up in the race and third in the standings.

"I thought I'd done everything possible to win the thing today and to have Dario sneak home making one less pit stop. ... all credit to Target Ganassi. It just stinks for us.''

Even his rivals couldn't begrudge Franchitti this one.

Franchitti, whose wife is often photographed more on pit road than he is, returned to open-wheel after spending a shortened 2008 season in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series -- suffering a broken ankle last April in a Nationwide Series crash at Talladega, then watching helplessly as his team had to shut down for lack of sponsorship.
"I didn't think I'd win five races and a championship in my first year back necessarily. I knew I had great equipment with Target Ganassi, but I wondered if I could pick right back up, hold up my end of the bargain."
-- Dario Franchitti
Shortly after, Ganassi found out he'd have an opening in one of this IndyCar seats.

"I told Dario, 'if you want it, it's yours' ... just let me know in a couple hours,'' Ganassi said.

The deal was made a couple hours later, signed on a cocktail napkin.

"Those are the best deals you make in racing,'' Target Ganassi team manager Mike Hull said smiling.

The season would prove as much. The win was Franchitti's fifth of the season and culminated a championship that both Ganassi and Franchitti felt was enhanced by the circuitous journey there.

And the eight points that separated Dixon, Franchitti and Briscoe entering the race made it the second closest title chase in series history.

"It adds a certain sweetness for sure,'' said Franchitti, who at 36 is the series' oldest champion. "But you know, I wouldn't change anything.

"I got to do something completely different, have a bit of a holiday and realize what I was missing, then come back to the best team in the paddock.

"I'm absolutely where I should be. But I wouldn't trade anything that's happened. It was a good lesson, just kind of what the other side of the fence looks like.''

To say Franchitti was motivated upon his return would be an understatement. Before the season began he called his NASCAR experience the worst year of his career. His season was over before he really got a fair shot at proving himself.

He had left IndyCar while at the top of his game and returned to a unified open-wheel series with deeper level of competition and different race venues.

"To come back and do what he did is quite impressive,'' Dixon said.

While Franchitti is celebrating an exit from NASCAR to IndyCar, his competitor Danica Patrick - who crashed on pit road Saturday - promised reporters after the race, "I've got a lot left in me. I think next year will be even better.''

It was the only comment she offered all weekend concerning her future plans. Although multiple outlets have reported she's re-signed with Andretti Green Racing, no official announcement has been made. And there continues to be speculation from the NASCAR ranks this weekend that she will land at least a part time ride in stock cars next year.

Franchitti, meanwhile, couldn't be happier with his decision to compete in open-wheel.

"I'm loving it,'' he said. "This is exactly how I hoped it would go.

"I didn't think I'd win five races and a championship in my first year back necessarily. I knew I had great equipment with Target Ganassi, but I wondered if I could pick right back up, hold up my end of the bargain.''

It's safe to say he did.

"It takes quite a driver to have the ability to maintain his composure during a race like today and how the race played out,'' said Ganassi, who now has seven open-wheel championships - four in CART and three in the IndyCar Series.

"That's being a champion before and knowing what it takes to be a champion.''