RICHMOND, Va. —  People may begin calling Dario Franchitti “Dario the Dominator” after his decisive victory in Saturday night’s IndyCar SunTrust Indy Challenge.
Franchitti, who was awarded the pole after Friday night’s qualifications were rained out, made the most of that opportunity by leading a track-record 242 laps of the 250-lap race at Richmond Int’l Raceway.
The only issue at the end of the race was whether he had enough fuel, but when the yellow flag waved for debris with 12 laps to go, he had enough Ethanol left in the tank to make it the rest of the way on the three-quarter-mile oval.
After a restart with seven laps to go was waved off, Franchitti had an excellent restart with six to go, and he made it the rest of the way to win his third race of the season, the second in a row.
“They said you are good on fuel so now go,” Franchitti said.
Franchitti, winner of this year’s Indianapolis 500, defeated Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon by .4194 second. Four of Franchitti’s seven IndyCar Series victories have come on tracks one mile or less.
“We were going to have to take an educated guess on setup in the race,” Franchitti said. “We had to go a different way than Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick. We pulled a lead pretty quick at the start, and I was pleasantly surprised by that.”
The only time Franchitti lost the lead was on the first stop, when Kanaan beat him out of the pits. But one lap into the restart, Franchitti was back in front, where he stayed.
“I enjoy driving on the short tracks a lot, and we get really great cars here,” Franchitti said. “The engineering staff took some big gambles last night, and it really paid off.”
Dan Wheldon was third, followed by Kanaan of AGR. Buddy Rice of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing was fifth.
Sam Hornish, Jr. spun out at the start of the race and dropped to last place. He was quickly lapped but at one point had a car as fast as the race leader. His spin was costly, as he finished 15th.
“It was really tough to pass, and it was obvious out there,” Hornish said. “It’s somewhat unfortunate. I don’t know how many people you saw pass up the front. It’s a shame we did that.”
Hornish curiously raced the eventual winner hard in the closing stages of the race trying to get one of his three laps back, which surprised both Franchitti and Dixon.
Hornish apologized to Dixon afterwards as the two crossed paths outside the garage area.
“Sam was trying to pass the leader with 20 laps to go, and he was two or three laps down and I didn’t see a good reason in any of that,” Dixon said. “It’s frustrating because restarts are a place where you try to make a pass going for the lead, and he took that away. I think he ruined that part of the race today.”
Franchitti was also surprised by the move.
“I haven’t thanked Sam yet,” Franchitti said. “I don’t think Sam was trying to help me out, but it didn’t hurt me toward the end there. Even if Scott did clear him I don’t think he was quick enough.”
Not only were Franchitti’s 242 laps led a track and IndyCar Series record for most laps led in a race, his average speed of 133.408 miles per hour was a Richmond Int’l Raceway record, topping last year’s speed of 129.572 mph set by Hornish.
Franchitti now has a commanding 65-point lead over Dixon in the point race. As the series heads to Watkins Glen Int’l for Sunday’s road-course race, he doesn’t plan on easing up after the halfway point of the season.
“We’re way too early in the season to start points racing,” Franchitti said. “You do what the car lets you do. It seems with the way the series is, that’s more and more difficult.”
Franchitti reluctantly joined the IndyCar Series in 2003 when Andretti Green Racing bailed on the Champ Car Series and brought a powerful lineup to the rival league. But after just two races into the 2003 season, he suffered a broken back in a motorcycle crash in Scotland. Although he returned to finish fourth at Pikes Peak Int’l Raceway in June, he had surgery to his back that sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Now, the reluctant competitor is the hottest driver in the IndyCar Series.
“I had to learn some stuff,” Franchitti said. “When I came here my first full season in 2004, I tried to set the car up like a Champ Car, and that wasn’t really working. I had to learn the difference. In 2005, we were week in and week out the dominant car but we had terrible luck.
“This year we’re getting the luck.”