“From a driver's standpoint, especially a seasoned driver like Dario Franchitti, it's probably overdriving the car [that will be the toughest thing to learn],” he claimed, “This is one of the first things we talked about when Juan Montoya came in. When he figures it out, the better he's going to be. There have been times when he's gotten the best of himself because an open-wheel racer is used to a lot higher speed, a lot more cornering force and they have a tendency to really barrel in and waste the lap time sliding around. That's what I experienced myself. It's all about containing yourself and trying to give it [the car] only all it will accept.”
As a result, both Andretti and Miller agreed that Franchitti was doing the right thing by starting his career in the Craftsman Truck Series.
“I think it's a good place to learn,” Andretti said, “I think Dario is doing the right thing there. What he learns will be very beneficial when he gets to the Cup car. Experience is always golden. If I were doing it, I would try to run Trucks and Busch along the way and try to speed up the learning curve.”
Despite that, however, Miller reckons that Franchitti will need to learn the ropes pretty quickly before he is thrown into the Cup Series next year.
“These guys will get enough testing and the right kind of testing, [but] the tough thing with Franchitti and Montoya is they will look to their team-mate [Reed Sorenson] to lean on, and he's young," he reasoned, "They don't have someone who's been around 20 years to tell them about the tracks, the tyres, the gears and the strategy. Will Chip Ganassi be patient with
Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti? Don't bet on it.”
