TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Wheldon Annoyed, But Not Pushing For NASCAR Ride

ADVERTISEMENT

By TONY FABRIZIO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 22, 2008

CONCORD, N.C. - St. Petersburg's Dan Wheldon is content to wait on a possible move to NASCAR, but he admits he was miffed about not even getting a phone call from his team owner, Chip Ganassi, about the stock car ride that went to Dario Franchitti.

"I think I was only ticked off when I found out he Ganassi called Franchitti right after Michigan when we both crashed together, and he didn't call me," Wheldon said Monday, referring to the Michigan IRL race last August. "That kind of irked me a little bit. But what are you doing to do; he's the boss, right?"

Wheldon, the 2005 Indy 500 winner and Indy Racing League champion from Emberton, England, has shown an interest in NASCAR for at least two years. At the start of last season, he talked about doing some NASCAR tests and possibly running a race or two for Ganassi, who fields cars in both the IndyCar Series and NASCAR.

But no opportunity to run a race ever came about, and when Ganassi got an opening on his Sprint Cup team for 2008, he hired 2007 Indy 500 winner Franchitti away from Andretti Green Racing.

Wheldon doesn't sound dejected about not getting to make the switch this year. He says he has unfinished business in the IRL: namely, rebounding from last year's disappointing finish after starting the season with two victories in the first four races, and getting a second Indianapolis 500 victory.

"NASCAR is the biggest stage in the world of motorsports," he said. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be a part of it at some point. At the same time, I really feel like, especially with the end of the year I had last year, I want to put that right before thinking about anything else. I'm not the kind of person that likes to leave anything messy."

Ganassi's decision to sign Franchitti might have been as much about getting attention as anything else, Wheldon suggested.

"I think Chip loves to be different and loves to create headlines," Wheldon said. "Probably getting Dario from Michael Andretti is a real good headline. Obviously, he Ganassi has to believe in the people he's moving around and placing."

Wheldon made his comments Monday to a few reporters after a Chip Ganassi Racing luncheon that was part of the annual preseason media tour of NASCAR race shops in North Carolina. Ganassi brought his full complement of nine drivers, who compete in four series and represent six countries.

After opening last year's IRL season with a two victories in the first four races, Wheldon didn't win again and finished fourth in the standings, 171 points behind champion Franchitti. His season is remembered as much for a brief feud with fellow driver Danica Patrick as for the early success he had.

Wheldon says now that all the talk about him being part of the rush of open-wheel drivers to NASCAR was a distraction that may have affected his performance.

It's a distraction he doesn't want going into this season.

"Me, personally, I'm going to just worry about the 500, and then we'll evaluate it towards the end of the year," he said. "But hopefully I can put myself in a position with my performance to maybe push my weight around and say what I want to do a little bit."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT