Five weeks after breaking his left ankle in a 180mph crash at Talladega, Bathgate’s Dario Franchitti returns to Nascar action this weekend when he contests the latest round of the Nationwide Series at Dover.
The 35-year-old Scot, who completed a two-day test at Pocono Raceway in his Ganassi Dodge earlier this week, is eager to return to action.
“I felt great,” Franchitti admitted . “I was really worried about how I was going to feel, but I got back in and we ran pretty well.
“I’m really happy with the way things ran. I was able to the brake pedal pretty hard with no ill effects, so it’s good.” But the Scot admits he will ease himself back into action.
“I’ll do the shorter Nationwide race which is half the distance of the larger Sprint Cup event on the same weekend,” Franchitti continued. “I talked it over with my boss Chip Ganassi and we decided that was what was best for me and the team.”
Franchitti still leads the Nationwide Series Raybestos Rookie standings despite not competing in the last three events.
JM