Dario Franchitti doesn\u2019t look to make a comeback in racing or in NASCAR. The 52-year-old enjoys a fine life as a driver coach at Chip Ganassi Racing.<\/p>\n
But the four-time INDYCAR champion still loves to get behind the wheel. And the opportunity to get in a NASCAR truck for the race Saturday at St. Petersburg (Noon ET on FOX) intrigued him.<\/p>\n
So as he and Jimmie Johnson enjoyed a little wine, he mentioned how he wanted to do it.<\/p>\n
“One thing with Jimmie, don’t make too many suggestions because he will act on them,” Franchitti told me. “He doesn’t mess around.”<\/p>\n
Johnson knows Franchitti was a driver who didn\u2019t mess around on the track \u2014 Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500 three times \u2014 and wanted to find his good friend a ride.<\/p>\n
“Jimmie gets involved, and things move very, very quickly,” Franchitti said. “All of a sudden, I’m driving the\u00a0Tricon truck and\u00a0Dollar Tree are on as a sponsor.\u00a0It\u00a0was just about the opportunity to race at\u00a0St Pete and the truck is\u00a0the vehicle to allow me to do that.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dario Franchitti is a three-time Indy 500 winner and four-time INDYCAR champion. <\/p>\n
The 1.8-mile, 14-turn course has been a home to INDYCAR races for 21 years now, but this will be the first street course ever for the trucks.<\/p>\n
Franchitti, who won the INDYCAR race at St. Pete in 2011, hasn\u2019t raced at St. Pete since 2013, the year when he had an INDYCAR career-ending accident when he suffered a concussion at Houston. He has raced in a variety of historic and sports-car events since 2019.<\/p>\n
“Time is\u00a0a great healer,” Franchitti said. “And back in 2019\u00a0I\u00a0had a conversation with the doctors and the stakeholders involved in my retirement, and I was allowed to then go racing again.<\/p>\n
“So this is just an extension of that, but it’s definitely not a comeback.”<\/p>\n
Franchitti has some NASCAR experience, racing a mix of Cup and O\u2019Reilly (previously Xfinity) events in 2007-08 with 29 starts across the national series as he focused on a NASCAR career after winning the 2007 INDYCAR title. Having suffered a broken leg in a crash at Talladega and with funding not plentiful, his NASCAR career ended somewhat abruptly in less than a season. After taking 2008 to focus on NASCAR, he returned to INDYCAR in 2009 and won three consecutive titles.<\/p>\n
“The Cup stuff, I found very difficult,” Franchitti said. “It\u2019s\u00a0nothing about closure. It’s just about enjoyment. It’s just about having an opportunity.”<\/p>\n
It\u2019s likely Franchitti won\u2019t be the only one enjoying it. Johnson will be on the pit box. The Ganassi engineers and drivers will be watching.<\/p>\n
“They’ve all been saying, \u2018We’ll be watching very closely,\u2019” Franchitti said. “So, unfortunately, when I maybe make a mistake or it’s not going quite as well, I’m sure they’ll be sure to tell me what I’m doing wrong.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dario Franchitti celebrates his Indy 500 victory in 2012. <\/p>\n
Franchitti did get a test day in a truck earlier this month at Sebring. NASCAR allows for refresher tests for someone who hasn\u2019t competed in the series in a long time and acclimation tests for an established driver from another series.<\/p>\n
“I was surprised at how well the truck drove, actually,” Franchitti said. “I know the Tricon stuff is very good, They won the championship last year, a lot of road courses. But I really enjoyed the way it felt. It responded to changes.<\/p>\n
“I’ve driven a lot of different cars since [2019], I’ve driven more cars and different types of cars than I drove when I was racing INDYCAR full-time, so maybe I\u2019m a bit more adaptable than I was back then.”<\/p>\n
So what are his goals? How would he define success?<\/p>\n
“I approach these things now, I know if I do a good job, if I feel I’m driving well, then that’s it,” Franchitti said. “It’s about pushing myself and maybe doing a bit better than I thought I might.<\/p>\n
“If\u00a0I have a great result, it’s not going to change my life on Monday morning. I would like to have a great result, trust me. But there\u2019s\u00a0no long-term plan\u00a0or\u00a0any of that stuff. It\u2019s really about getting out there, trying to be competitive. Enjoyment\u00a0comes from that, and from the act of working with that whole Tricon team to push it forward.”<\/p>\n
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass<\/a>.<\/p>\n