Dario Franchitti wasn’t around American open-wheel racing when it finally became one series again last year.
But the 2007 IndyCar Series champion, once a star in the rival CART series, can certainly see the difference now that he is back.
“The competition level has gone up, even since 2007. It’s just so deep now,” Franchitti said Sunday after winning in Long Beach, Calif., in just his second race back in IndyCar after an aborted shot at NASCAR in 2008. “Just about everybody is here and it really makes winning tougher and even more special when you do it.”
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There was some surprise when the popular Scotsman decided to make the move to NASCAR.
“I’ll tell you right now that Ashley (wife) never asked me to leave (IndyCar),” he said earlier this season. “She’s been totally supportive of whatever I decide to do in racing and outside of racing.”
Asked after his latest win why he did leave, Franchitti said, “By the end of ‘07, the reason I went to NASCAR wasn’t anything to do with IndyCar. As I said at the time, it was like I needed to do something else.”
Franchitti took his shot at NASCAR with Chip Ganassi, a longtime friend who owns teams in IndyCar and NASCAR.
Franchitti wasn’t out of a job for long. When Dan Wheldon decided to leave Ganassi’s team to move to Panther Racing, that left open a spot for a veteran driver alongside 2008 Indy winner and series champion Scott Dixon at Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
“When there was a possibility of an opening on our IndyCar team, the only person I thought about was Dario,” Ganassi said when he made the announcement last September.
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