The 2007 Indy 500 and IRL champion began the ‘08 season as a rookie in the NA$CAR cup series. Driving the #40 Dodge for Chip Ganassi, the venture was short lived as the lack of sponsorship caused Ganassi to park the entry and lay off some of the team. Dario has continued to run a limited cup light schedule with no clear idea where he will fit in for the future. Clearly, this is not what Franchitti had in mind when he left Andretti-Green racing to run with NA$CAR. Timing is everything.
Now comes news that Ganassi will field a car for Franchitti in the IRL for the ‘09 season. Chip Ganassi, Team Owner: “It is going to be very exciting to have Dario in one of our IndyCars next year. I have always admired his competitive spirit when he raced against us and have really grown to see more of what he is about this season while he raced in NASCAR. When there was a possibility of an opening on our IndyCar team, the only person I thought about was Dario. This is going to be a great move for Dario and for our team. There is little in my racing career that I am more proud of than my team’s partnership with Target. We will be entering our 20th year with Target in 2009 and we could not be happier.”
Dario Franchitti, Driver #10 Target Honda Dallara: “Part of the reason that I signed with Ganassi last year was because of how many options that Chip has at his disposal for a driver. You can do almost any form of racing that you want. With unification and the new schedule having more road and street courses it made me think about this more and more. I have really enjoyed this last season in stockcars and have not completely closed that chapter of my professional career but the opportunity that arose was just something I could not pass up. I am really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of one of those Target cars and be a teammate to Scott Dixon. Target is a tremendous sponsor and they and Chip always give you everything you need to win.”
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