Published: September 11, 2007 11:45 pm            

de la BASTIDE: Franchitti, Hornish eye Cup racing

Open wheel weekend in central Indiana

It will come as no surprise when Dario Franchitti announces that he will be switching to stock car racing with the Ganassi Motorsports team in 2008.

While Franchitti or Ganassi weren’t commenting on Sunday after the final Indy Racing League event at Chicagoland Speedway nor was Franchitti ready to announce his plans on Tuesday, there appears little doubt that Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr. will be making the move to NASCAR next year.

The word is that Franchitti will be driving the No. 40 Dodge next season with sponsorship from Canadian Club. Everyone expects Franchitti to start the learning process with ARCA and Busch Series events this year.

Indiana driver David Stremme has already been informed that he will not be back next year in the No. 40 Dodge.

I believe that Ganassi might add a fourth team for 2008 with Franchitti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Reed Sorenson and Stremme as his drivers. The advantage of putting Franchitti in the No. 40 Dodge for 2008 is that the team will be assured a starting spot because the team will finish in the top 35 in points this year.

Coming to stock cars, Franchitti will have an advantage because Montoya has made the move this year and the two drivers can share information on how to set up the car. The toughest part of the learning curve for Franchitti is getting used to the bumping and banging that takes place in NASCAR.

If Ganassi wants Franchitti to get his feet wet in a stock car, he should enter the Scotsman in the ARCA race this Saturday at Salem Speedway. That would be an eye-opener for Franchitti on the high banked half-mile oval with 35 other competitors. My guess is Franchitti will make his first appearance at Talladega in an ARCA stock car.

Hornish is expected to make the move into a Penske Dodge next season. Hornish has been running a limited schedule in the Busch Series and will be attempting to make his first Cup start this weekend in New Hampshire.

The real question is what does the move of Franchitti and Hornish mean for the struggling IRL?

The IRL consistently put on the best racing on an oval track as witnessed by the season-ending race at Chicagoland. Five cars running at 215 miles per hour for the lead for 200 laps, it doesn’t get much better than that for race fans.

The winner of the race and the IRL championship was decided on the final lap when Scott Dixon ran out of fuel and was passed by Franchitti.

The IRL is hurting for star power and Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno are coming to capture the attention of most fans.

Granted, the IRL still has Helio Castroneves, Dan Wheldon, Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti, but they have to lure a name driver from the USAC ranks to generate interest among American fans of open wheel racing.

In other racing news

• The field of 12 for the chase for the championship and for the second time in three years Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t make the field. Despite the hype by ESPN and ABC, there was really little chance that Little E was going to bump his way into the field.

Defending champion Jimmie Johnson enters the 10-race run to the championship with momentum after winning the last two races. I anticipate Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth to be the contenders for the title.

• There is plenty of outstanding open wheel action in central Indiana this weekend.

The Premier Racing Association “Big Cars,” the former USAC Silver Crown cars, are competing in a 100-lap feature at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Indiana drivers expected to compete include Dave Darland, Shane Cottle, Bobby East and Russ Gamester.

The USAC national midgets will run a 30-lap feature at Anderson Speedway on Saturday. It is the first appearance of the midgets at Anderson since 2004. Look for Busch Series driver Jason Leffler, a three-time midget champion, to be an Anderson on Saturday and maybe ORP on Friday.

Ken de la Bastide may be reached at (765) 454 -8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com

        

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