Dario Franchitti became the third driver in IndyCar Series history to capture the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar Series championship in the same season as he drove the Canadian Club car to victory at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday. The victory was Franchitti's fourth of the 2007 season and the first career championship for the winningest British driver in American open-wheel racing history.
In Turn 3 on the final lap of the 200-lap event, Scott Dixon, who was still leading, began to run out of fuel. Franchitti went around the 2003 IndyCar Series champion and crossed the finish line in first place, clinching Andretti Green Racing's third IndyCar Series championship in four seasons.
"We came down that backstretch and I was drafting him trying to get a slingshot. Just as I pulled out I saw him slow down and I almost hit the back of him as I was just going out," Franchitti said.
SONOMA, Calif. (Aug. 26, 2007) - Canadian Club driver Dario Franchitti finished third in Sunday's Motorola Indy 300 at Infineon Raceway. Franchitti now trails Scott Dixon by four points in the IndyCar Series championship. Team 7-Eleven driver Tony Kanaan is in third, trailing Franchitti by 58 points.
Dario Franchitti, #27 Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone “The day was going really well for the Canadian Club team until Marco (Andretti) and I got together in Turn 1. Tony (Kanaan) and I had a similar situation on the stop before that and Tony opened up the door and gave me the room. I really want to look at it and talk to Marco. We're teammates. We look after each other and that shouldn't happen. I'm going to talk with him, look at the video and we'll see from there.”
For more of the officially cleansed recap of Dario's race on Sundaywritten by andrettigreen.com see...
"Infineon is a track that I enjoy going to. We had a good car here last year finishing second behind Marco. This race is going to be very important for us in the championship with only three races left.
Dario Franchitti Facts
· Franchitti finished second in the 2006 event at Infineon Raceway behind teammate Marco Andretti.
· This will be Franchitti's third start at Infineon Raceway. He has top-10 finishes in both of his starts.
· Franchitti led 52 laps on his way to his 13th top-10 finish of the season at Kentucky Speedway.
· He leads the IndyCar Series championship by eight points over Scott Dixon and 52 over teammate Tony Kanaan.
· Franchitti recorded back-to-back wins at Iowa Speedway and Richmond International Raceway.
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