Stremme to replace injured Franchitti for Cup race
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Sunday, April 27, 2008
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Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images
The car of Dario Franchitti is towed away after crashing during Saturday's Aaron's 312 Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
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TALLADEGA, Ala. – David Stremme will be reunited with Chip Ganassi Racing for at least one race as he will replace the injured Dario Franchitti in the Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Franchitti broke his left ankle in a hard crash during the Aaron’s 312 Nationwide Series race.
He was taken to a Birmingham hospital for evaluation and was released Saturday night. Chip Ganassi Racing officials confirmed that Franchitti will miss Sunday's race and Stremme will replace him.
Stremme, who drove the No. 40 car the previous two years for Ganassi, currently drives for Rusty Wallace Racing in the Nationwide Series and is a test driver for Penske Racing. Franchitti, who is 38th in driver points and missed one race earlier this year when he failed to qualify, was scheduled to start 43rd in the Cup race.
Stremme started 74 Cup races for Ganassi with three top-10 finishes. Ganassi officials talked with Stremme following the Nationwide race to ask about his availability.
“If both [team owners] Roger [Penske] and Rusty [Wallace] approve of it, then yeah, I’ll do it,” Stremme said Saturday. “It’s good for experience. Obviously, I’ve worked with that team and it’s something that I’ll be glad to fill in for him.”
The accident started when it appeared that Franchitti had a tire problem, spun and hit the wall. As he spun back down the track into the grass in the backstretch, he was rammed in the driver’s-side door by MSRP Motorsports’ Larry Gunselman.
Franchitti gingerly got out of his car to walk to the ambulance and was put on a stretcher.
Gunselman, who was originally evaluated and released from the track’s infield care center, was later transported to an area hospital as well for further evaluation.
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Dario Franchitti
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