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FRANCHITTIjpg
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Dario at the 2007 Long Beach Grand Prix
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Scottish
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1997 - present
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Hogan Racing (1997), Team Green (1998-2001), Andretti Green Racing (2002)
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115
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0
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12
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21
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-
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1997 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami (Homestead)
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1998 Texaco/Havoline 200 (Road America)
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2007 SunTrust Indy Challenge ( Richmond )
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(b.
19 May ,
1973 in
Bathgate ,
West Lothian ) is a
Scottish Racing driver of
Italian Descent . He currently competes in the
IndyCar Series , formerly drove in the
CART series, and won the rain shortened
2007 Indianapolis 500 . He also competes in the
American Le Mans Series for Andretti Green Racing with his brother Marino and former IndyCar Series teammate
Bryan Herta . On
September 9 ,
2007 ,
Chip Ganassi Racing will formally announce that Dario will be replacing
David Stremme in the #40
Dodge Avenger stock car in the
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starting in 2008.
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Franchitti began his racing career in karts, winning the 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 4th 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 and this 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 finishing 5th and 3rd respectively. He continued in the ITC in 1996, finishing fourth overall with one race win.
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 series. His best finish was ninth place. In 1998 he joined
Team Green (forerunner to the current
Andretti Green Racing ), finishing 3rd in the season standings with three wins and five pole-positions.
Franchitti finished as the runner-up in the 1999 CART series behind
Juan Pablo Montoya . Both drivers finished the season with a score of 212 points, but Montoya had seven wins to Franchitti's three and was thus 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 in 2001. In 2002 he won the
Vancouver Molson Indy . He dedicated his win to Greg Moore, who lived in Vancouver before dying in 1999. He finished 4th in Champ Car in 2002.
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. Franchitti missed most of the year, and his place was taken by
Dan Wheldon at Motegi,
Robby Gordon at
Indianapolis and
Bryan Herta for the remainder of the year. Franchitti returned to the cockpit in 2004, and won races at
Milwaukee and
Pikes Peak .
On January 3, 2007, Andretti Green Racing announced that Dario had re-signed for the IRL team for a tenth consecutive season in American Open Wheel racing. He is also undertaking a limited programme driving an , 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.
During the
2007 season, Dario 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.
Dario is currently 1st in points for the
2007 Season with three wins under his belt so far. He leads
Scott Dixon by just 3 points with 1 race to go in the season.
Franchitti has been married to
American Actress Ashley Judd since 2001. The ceremony was held at
Skibo Castle near
Dornoch ,
Scotland . They now reside near
Franklin, Tennessee ,
USA .
Though Bathgate-born, his family moved to Whitburn when he was 8 years old. He is a former pupil of
Stewart's Melville College and despite his local football clubs being
Heart Of Midlothian and
Hibernian of Edinburgh, he chose to support
Celtic Football Club .
- 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.
(Races in indicate
Pole Position )
- 2007 season currently underway
- --- Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes.
-- Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.
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