Dario Franchitti
NBS PIR Advance
Race: Arizona Travel 200 on Saturday, November 10, 2007
Track: Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval)
Location: Avondale, Ariz.
Dario Franchitti and the No. 42 Target Dodge Team Facts:
Franchitti To Race this Weekend and Next: Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) announced today driver Dario Franchitti will make his third and fourth appearances in the NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) on November 10 at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) and November 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This weekend’s run will mark the next step in Franchitti’s stock car learning curve, as he races again under the guidance of CGRFS crew chief Brian Pattie. Last month, CGRFS announced Franchitti had signed a multi-year agreement with the organization to compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) beginning in 2008. Franchitti will become the first European driver in the 59-year history of NASCAR to join the series full-time when he assumes the driving duties of No. 40 Dodge Avenger next season.
Looking Back: Dario Franchitti’s most recent stock car effort was this past Saturday’s NBS race at Texas Motor Speedway, where he scored an 18th-place start and 25th-place finish. Before that, he raced at the Memphis Motorsports Park in late October, during which he qualified an impressive third on the grid in the third race of his stock car development schedule, and ran in the top 15 for over 75% of the race. His brake pedal failed on lap 192 resulting in unavoidable contact with the rear of the No.77 car. He finished the race running in the 32nd position. Prior to Memphis, Franchitti competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway and the ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway.
He’s got talent: Franchitti joins CGRFS with impressive open-wheel credentials. The 34-year-old recently captured the 2007 Indianapolis 500 title, becoming only the second Scottish-born driver to win the race (Jim Clark in 1965), before going on to win the 2007 IndyCar Series Championship over Ganassi driver Scott Dixon in the final turn of the season. With over 180 starts under his belt between the CART and IndyCar Series resulting in 18 wins, 17 poles, 63 top-five and 95 top-10 finishes (1997-2007), Franchitti is the winningest driver in U.S. open-wheel history from Great Britain. He also captured the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring in the LMP2 Class earlier this season in his first ever American Le Mans Series start – much like Montoya did in February at the Rolex 24 At Daytona for CGRFS in his first sports car start.
Chassis: Crew chief Brian Pattie and his Target crew are pulling out chassis #753 to race this Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR). The car helped the No.42 team and CGRFS development driver Kevin Hamlin score their second-straight top-10 finish in late July. The team came home with a seventh-place finish from Gateway International Raceway on July 21 and then the following weekend they pulled out chassis #753 to turn a 30th-place starting position into an eighth-place finish with Hamlin at the O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, Ind.
Standings Update: The No.42 team now stands 22nd in the overall NBS owner points, with a current tally of 3,220.
