Franchitti leading the title race

Dario Franchitti's move to the IndyCar Series in 2003 was a less than stellar success. He fell off a motorcycle in Scotland, missed several races, came back, finished fourth at Pikes Peak Int'l Raceway, and then decided to sit out the rest of the year to allow his back to heal completely.

Franchitti would win four race over the next three seasons, but was hardly dominant.

“You know, I had to learn some stuff,” said Franchitti of his transition to the IndyCar Series machines. “We were (recently) talking about this with engineering. When I came here, really my first season, I was trying to set up the car like a Champ car and that wasn't working. It took me some time to get used to it and what I could get away with (in) these cars as far as set-up. I had to change my driving style just slightly.”

He also needed to find some luck. “In 2005, I thought week in and week out we had a dominant car, but we had terrible luck.”

Fast forward to 2007 and Franchitti is arguably the most dominant driver of the season. He has a 65 point lead over Scott Dixon, and that luck thing seems to be resolved. Twice this season he has been next to major incidents, but escaped unscathed.

At Milwaukee, he made a two-wide situation three wide trying to go under both Danica Patrick and Dan Wheldon. Franchitti would lift at the last second and narrowly avoid the contact between Danica and Wheldon. Then in Iowa, Franchitti was four wide with Danica, Ed Carpenter and AJ Foyt, IV.

The other three crashed, Franchitti went on to win. He also won the Indy 500 when rain fell as he was leading. Granted, he had a fast car, but the weather played into his favor.

“This year it's good that we're getting some luck,” said Franchitti after his Richmond win, his second in a row.

In possession of a large point now halfway through the season, Franchitti could start looking forward to his first IndyCar Series title - but he won't.

“Too early in the season to point race,” said Franchitti, who now has over a race in hand as the IRL point system allows a driver to score at most just 53 points in any event. “I've just got to keep getting the maximum out of the car week in, week out that I can. You take what you can get.”

“Sometimes you can grab the car by the scruff of the neck and you can get an extra place or two. But, it seems the way the series is, the way most series are, it's become more and more difficult.”

Also difficult for Franchitti is finding the time to enjoy the spoils of his success. Thanks to his Indy 500 win, he has been on the road almost constantly and has little time to enjoy his Indy 500 victory - though he certainly talks about it a lot.

“If I do think about it, it is in some quiet moments. I'm very proud of that and to be in the company that I am with fellow winners.”

For now, Franchitti will not get much time to think about anything but the next race. The IndyCar Series has 17 races in 2007 and nine of them are now in the books. The final eight will be run over the next ten weekends, including three more in a row before taking a break over the final weekend of July. Maybe then he will get one other wish.

“I would definitely like some time hanging out with my wife Ashley. But as Scott Dixon puts it so well, ‘you get paid for the PR stuff. You drive the car because you want to.'”

ORS / CAPSIS International