Franchitti to meet with Ganassi, determine future plans
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Friday, July 11, 2008
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JOLIET, Ill. – Dario Franchitti plans to talk to team owner Chip Ganassi Friday to discuss his future, which includes competing in the Nationwide Series race Friday at Chicagoland Speedway.
Ganassi folded the No. 40 Sprint Cup team last week, leaving Franchitti with a Cup ride.
“I don’t know what the options are going to look like until, certainly, after tomorrow,” Franchitti said Thursday after practice. “The phone’s been ringing, which has been nice, from all kinds of different places. We’ll see what happens.”
Franchitti doesn’t know his schedule beyond this weekend. He said Reed Sorenson will be in the Chip Ganassi Racing Nationwide Series car at Gateway International Raceway next weekend.
“The team said, ‘Hey, we want to run you at Chicago’ and I felt it was better to be here driving the Fastenal car than sitting at home so that was the thinking behind [running here],” Franchitti said. “[I wanted to] get in the car, keep my learning experience going and then we’ll see. Again, [Friday] is probably quite a big day with this day and what [conversations] we’re going to have with Chip.”
The defending IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 champion wouldn’t rule anything out but isn’t yearning to go back to the Indy Racing League.
“I was thinking about that the other day and when I made the decision to leave IndyCar it was because I felt I had run my course,” Franchitti said. “I didn’t feel I was going to have that, I don’t know what the right word [is], determination maybe to get back in the car again this year. I really felt it was time to do something else. Had I not come to NASCAR I would have done something else apart from IndyCar.”
That’s why Franchitti has begun thinking about whom he might want to drive for in NASCAR and is beginning to reach out to them.
“We’re starting to look around, starting to talk,” Franchitti said. “But really nothing is going to happen until I speak to Chip and see what his position is, see what his plan is for the future and see if it’s something that I’m interested in then I can make a decision. I certainly owe Chip that much and then we’ll go from there.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Dario Franchitti
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