AUTO RACING Franchitti's return is complete with first career IRL win
He held off Buddy Rice for the win in Milwaukee.
WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) -- After injuring his back in a motorcycle crash last year, Dario Franchitti was out to prove he could still win races.
Franchitti completed that mission Sunday, winning the inaugural Menards A.J. Foyt Indy 225 at The Milwaukee Mile.
"Last year was difficult, people made up a lot of stuff," Franchitti said. "I'm having a great time here, having a great time with these guys, having some fun. And I wanted to come back for that reason.
"I've still got a lot left to do."
Franchitti's win was his first in the IRL after missing almost all of last season. The Scot competed in just three races in 2003, two before he injured his back and one before undergoing surgery.
His best IRL finish had been second on June 12 at the Texas Motor Speedway.
Got it done
"We've come pretty close this year," he said. "It was nice to get it all done."
Franchitti did it by taking advantage of two key caution flags.
After starting seventh, Franchitti got great help from the first yellow flag on lap 39. He pitted and changed his tires, which made all the difference.
"When we put new tires on, the car really came to life at that point, and I started moving through the field,"
Then as the race was coming to a close, Franchitti held off Buddy Rice after a late restart. Rice finished second, followed by Sam Hornish Jr.
Franchitti was relieved and concerned when the final yellow flag came out with less than 15 laps to go after Jaques Lazier hit the wall in the second turn. He had Rice behind him but also was struggling to pass Alex Barron, who was at the back of the lead lap.
"I was relieved in a way because it got [Barron] back out around, out of my way," Franchitti said. "On the flip side of that, I was a bit concerned about the restart with Buddy. ... As it turned out, the restart was fine, and it wasn't an issue."
Not pleased with caution
Rice wasn't pleased to see the yellow flag.
"I was hoping that the laps would stay green until the end because I was closing on him," Rice said. "But with a few laps to go, I never really had a chance for a run."
Hornish would have rather run under green until the end; although, he admitted he didn't know if he could have beaten Franchitti.
"We're not sure if we would have made it to the end, but it would have been exciting," he said.
Franchitti took his first lead on the 106th lap after passing Helio Castroneves. He managed to stay in front until more than halfway through the race when the leaders again pitted during a caution, and Hornish beat him out of pit road.
Hornish held the lead during the restart, but it was waived off and he was forced to fend off Franchitti again. Franchitti took advantage, passing Hornish in turn one and never trailing again. Hornish then was passed by Rice with less than 25 laps to go.
"On the second start, he just kept coming down, trying to squeeze me," Franchitti said. "I was able to accelerate hard on the inside, get past him and get a nice lead."
With his second-place finish, Rice jumped to second in the points standings and is 64 points behind Tony Kanaan, who finished fourth. Franchitti jumped from ninth to sixth in the points standings.
Franchitti did know a little about The Milwaukee Mile, having raced there in the CART series. He finished in the top 10 four times during his six starts.
"It was nice to come to a track where we had the same amount of experience as everybody else," he said.
And he had owner Michael Andretti behind him, who won five races during his career at the 1-mile, oval track.
"I love this track," Andretti said.