IndyCar » Indy champ Franchitti loses NASCAR ride

I''m not sure why Dario moved from single seaters, but following the ''unification'' of IRL with Champ Car - which hadn''t looked on the cards when Dario left - I''m convinced that a seat there would be the perfect solution for him, unless he''s absolutely determined to see things through in NASCAR. Hopefully sponsors will be more willing to back the number 1 plate back into IRL and I''m sure the series bosses and event promoters would love it. Dario is such a great racer and a fan pleaser and I dearly hope to see him behind the wheel again very soon. I wish him all the luck in the world.

Dario moved probably because a) he thought he would be killed racing on ovals in 2008 - he had a number of near-misses last year and b) he needed a new challenge - he has been in open wheel racing in the US since 1997. Not sure where he goes now - racing in the Nationwide series wont pay so well and its not as high profile. He's too old old for F1 - and other than a return to the IRL he could race sportscars in the ALMS. Cant see Chip running a 3rd car in the IRL for him......

to be expected, he has disappointed in NASCAR this year im afraid, during the last event, i saw he was in 19th, i thought, hey he might get a decent result, next thing i see ( and i mean THE next thing i see) is hes in the wall. i hope he does return to IRL and be competitve where he deserves to be. , NASCAR is harder than these guys seem to think.

but look at hornish, at least hes making into each race.

I don't think Dario had the team behind him in the IRL last year so I can understand why he wanted a change.

I respectfully disagree, Mark.... I think DF had the team very much behind him. Otherwise he would not have won either "The 500" or the championship.

Having said that, he IS a rookie in NASCAR, and I'm sure it's quite a big learning curve to go from light single-seaters to huge lumbering behemoths. Especially as most teams (with the exception of Gibbs) are still struggling to come to grips -- sometimes quite literally -- with the new car.

And yes, Hornish may be making more races, but he's not staying in them for very long.

DF is a rookie in Nascar - but so is Hornish and Carpentier. Of the 3 Carpentier - seems to be doing the best. I agree with Jim - this shows how difficult the transition is. Also you have to have some talent, the ability to get through your rookie year & learn the tracks & to have the support from your team. Montoya got through his rookie year and is now a middling Nascar driver.

I'm not a huge nascar fan but you have to respect those that get to the top in Nascar - 35+ races a year - everyone a marathon and you need to be able to master a variety of tracks. It also shows that if you dont get results and stay at the bottom of the qualifiers - you won't last long !!!

Thats "loses drive" NOT "loses ride", stupid reporter.