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Franchitti Back To IndyCar To Replace Wheldon

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 3, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Dario Franchitti will leave NASCAR and return to IndyCar in 2009 as the replacement driver for St. Petersburg's Dan Wheldon at Chip Ganassi Racing.

The move was announced Tuesday by Ganassi, who also signed a multiyear extension with Target for both his open-wheel and NASCAR programs. Wheldon, meanwhile, will rejoin Panther Racing, the team he began his IndyCar career with in 2002.

Franchitti won the 2007 IndyCar Series championship and the Indianapolis 500, but he left open wheel for NASCAR at the end of the season to drive Ganassi's No. 40 Dodge in the Sprint Cup Series.

Ganassi never secured sponsorship for that team and was forced to shutter it in July. Franchitti has lingered in NASCAR since, running a handful of Nationwide Series races.

"When there was a possibility of an opening on our IndyCar team, the only person I thought about was Dario," Ganassi said. "This is going to be a great move for Dario and for our team."

Franchitti will join Scott Dixon, the reigning Indy 500 winner who is poised to wrap up his second IndyCar title, on Ganassi's open-wheel team. Franchitti beat Dixon for the title a year ago, right before he announced he was joining Ganassi's NASCAR operation.

Wheldon joined the Ganassi team in 2006, right after winning the series championship and the Indy 500 for Andretti Green Racing.

"Dan Wheldon has done everything this organization has asked of him," Ganassi said. "He was competitive from the moment that he stepped into the car for us. Dan is a class act both on and off the track and we wish him nothing but the best."

Wheldon, who signed a multiyear agreement with Panther, said, "I'm looking forward to when my obligations with my current team have been honored, so I can get with the entire Panther family and start moving towards all of our goals of winning races and championships together. It's great to be back."

The championship will be decided this weekend at Chicagoland, where Dixon will try to hold off Helio Castroneves for the championship.

"I will certainly miss my working relationship with Scott Dixon and wish him and the team all the best for this weekend at Chicagoland," said Wheldon, who is fourth in the season points with wins at Kansas and Iowa.

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