By David Morgan, Associate Editor
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Dario Franchitti is taking a bit of a detour from his normal duties in the NTT IndyCar Series this weekend in St. Petersburg as he will be climbing back behind the wheel himself in Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
The 52-year-old Scotsman, a four-time champion in IndyCar and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, had a foray into NASCAR back in 2007 and 2008, making a combined 29 starts between the Cup Series (10 starts), O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (18 starts), and Truck Series (one start), before returning to open wheel and running until he retired from full-time racing in 2013.
Since then, he has been serving as a driver coach and advisor at Chip Ganassi Racing, among other endeavors, to stay active in the motorsports community.
But then came the opportunity to drive on one of his favorite tracks, the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit, and with one of the best teams in the Truck Series, TRICON Garage. An offer too enticing to turn down.
“Felt a bit different coming to the track this morning from my job at Ganassi when all I have to do is tell these guys what they’re doing wrong. Now I have to do it right myself,” Franchitti said.
“It’s exciting. It’s a very different feeling. It’s nice to experience it again. It’s nice to sort of be sitting there last night checking out all the data, looking at everything, preparing for the day. Getting here this morning, all that stuff, I was a bit late with the traffic.
“Yeah, it will be very interesting to see how today goes. I have no real expectations. I think there’s a fair chance of rain, which could throw a bit of a spanner in the works. But we’ll see.”
Franchitti will have a bevy of well-wishers on his side for the race including six-time IndyCar Series champion and driver of the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, along with seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who will be on the pit box for Saturday’s one-off return.
“It’s super exciting. I think when I heard that he was coming out of retirement, I was like, shit, I hope he’s not coming back to INDYCAR,” Dixon said with a laugh. “Dario is a bad-ass.
“I think with his records and obviously what he’s done in the past, everybody in the INDYCAR paddock was glad it was truck racing. I’m looking forward to watching him.”
Dixon joked that he wanted to get in on the fun as the spotter, but was denied the opportunity to do so.
“I applied for the spotter position. Been declined,” Dixon deadpanned.
“We already have a questionable crew chief with Jimmie,” Franchitti replied. “There are going to be plenty of opinions. I’m sure Scott is going to end up on the timing stand, as well. Poor Jeremy is not going to hit him. Then he really gets excited if Chip shows up.
“As I say, I’m sure there will be a few people pointing out my errors. But that’s what you get for, what is it, 13 years of telling people what they’re doing wrong.”
Franchitti added that he is welcoming all the help he can get, especially from Johnson, who was instrumental in getting him the ride with TRICON in Saturday’s race.
“Jimmie is more excited about this than anybody. He is the person I think that’s put it all together, him and the team at Legacy. Being the boss there, he’s got people,” Franchitti said.
“He’s worked hard at putting this whole thing together from the very first conversation. Jeremy, the crew chief. Jimmie is going to be there giving me advice. Even two nights ago he’s on the phone 11:00 at night and 7:00 the next morning talking about restarts. He’s fully into it.
“When you have a seven-time NASCAR champion with you there getting that information, I wish he’d been there in 2008 doing that job. It would have helped.
“There’s no substitute for experience. He might be thinking at some point he wished he got in the truck and drove it here instead of me, depending on how I get on.”
So, now that Franchitti is taking the opportunity to try something outside his normal realm, will we see Dixon try something like this in the future. Never say never, Dixon explained.
“On my side, yeah, I think at some point try something. I don’t think I would have in the cards seen that Dario would be racing a truck in 2026. I think it just shows you that anything’s possible.
“Yeah, it’s the fun side of it. I’m sure it’s going to still be extremely competitive for Dario. Dario is only here to try and win, as well.
I’m just excited to see the process. Hopefully you can prove that it’s still possible and open the gates for many others.”
Cool, Calm and Collected
Franchitti noted that when he stepped away from full-time racing in 2013, he was content with it at the moment, but working his way back into the seat in other forms of racing, the timing was right when Johnson came calling with the ride for the Truck Series this weekend.
“When I retired, I was quite happy being retired for a good amount of time. I was driving cars and demonstrations and stuff like that. Thought I’d like to see what it felt like again to do it. That’s just sort of escalated from there, I’d say,” said Franchitti.
“I’ve been fortunate over the last seven years I guess to drive some really exceptional cars at some fun circuits. This is just the next extension of that.
“This is not a comeback. This is just getting to experience something fun, being fortunate enough to have great friends that help me to do that.”
As far as the business at hand this weekend, Franchitti said he’s not nervous at all about what is about to transpire when he climbs behind the wheel for the first time.
“I feel quite calm right now. I’m sure just before I get in the truck before practice and qualifying, I’m sure the nerves will go up a bit.
“I’ve always felt that part of my job is to control those emotions. Especially somewhere like Indy, when you used to have those nerves, how do you calm this all down. I think we all go through, don’t we?
“We all have that. I’ll just do what I would normally do: chill out, try and focus, then ultimately try and do a good job.”
Franchitti will start sixth on Saturday after practice and qualifying were cancelled due to inclement weather. The OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 is set for Noon ET on on FOX.
