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Dario Franchitti broke his left ankle in a hard crash at Talladega Superspeedway that sent him and another racer to a hospital for observation.
Franchitti, who came to NASCAR this season as the reigning IndyCar Series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner, also was treated for contusions and was unlikely to race in the Sprint Cup event.
Franchitti wrecked when his car apparently lost its right rear tire on the 10th lap of the Nationwide Series race.
His Dodge bounced into the wall and spun down the track, finally drifting down to the apron. It was there that the real damage was done — a car driven by Larry Gunselman slammed into his driver side door.
Soon after the race, Steven Lane, Franchitti’s crew chief in the Sprint Cup Series, asked Stremme if he would be available to sub for Franchitti in Sunday’s Cup race. Stremme recently signed with Penske Racing as a test driver and received approval from Rusty Wallace Inc., his Nationwide team, and from owner Roger Penske, before agreeing to fill a relief role for Ganassi.
“It was something that Roger approved,” Stremme said. “Since I was already with that team, it was easy to help them out. It’s pretty cool that Chip would call Roger and ask him for me to drive again. I hate to see Dario get hurt, but we’ll go out [Sunday] and do the best we can.”
Stremme said the agreement was for this weekend only, and he had been given no indication how long Franchitti would be sidelined.
“It’s just for this weekend, because I’m here, and I’ve worked with the team before,” Stremme said. “I thank Roger for giving me the opportunity to help Dario and Chip out.”
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