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.