Franchitti back to defend Indy title this time

The last time Dario Franchitti was the defending IndyCar Series champion, he was racing on a different circuit.

What followed was Franchitti's disappointing and abbreviated foray into NASCAR.

Franchitti returned to open-wheel cars last year and won another championship, edging defending champion and Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon for the title.

"This was going back to learning something that was instinct for me," Franchitti said. "It was all I'd ever really done so it was a lot easier and I love driving those (open-wheel) cars. I love the horsepower, grip, the tracks I get to drive on. So it was a good homecoming."

So this time, the Scotsman is staying put.

When the IndyCar Series opens its season this weekend in Brazil, Franchitti will be there in the red-and-white No. 10 Ganassi car looking to get off to a solid start in defense of his championship. Sam Hornish Jr., who is now in NASCAR's Sprint Cup series, is the only driver to win back-to-back IRL titles (2001, 2002).

"Being with a great team, it gives us an advantage. It also gives Scott (Dixon) an advantage," Franchitti said. "We've both won championships before so we both know what it takes. We can all do the jobs and it's up to us to do it. I approach it as each week we are going to do our best and that's what we did last year. We'll see what happens."

Franchitti certainly had no problem getting reacclimatized to the IndyCar Series, winning five races and finishing outside the top five only four times in the 17 races.

"I'm back doing exactly what I want to do," said Franchitti, who won the 2007 Indianapolis 500 during his IRL championship season for Andretti Green Racing.

When Franchitti's Sprint Cup team was shut down by Chip Ganassi only 17 races into the 2008 season because of a lack of sponsorship, he was 41st in the standings. He had missed five races because of a broken ankle, didn't qualify for two and had an average finish of 39th in the other 10.

Despite his struggles in NASCAR, Franchitti said he benefited from his stint driving stock cars.

"I definitely learned stuff while driving in NASCAR that took me out of my comfort zone and that made me a better driver. Did it make me a quicker driver? I don't know," he said. "But it definitely allowed me to do some stuff that I haven't been able to do in the past and deal with different problems with the car. In a way, it did make me a better driver."

Sure, Franchitti would have liked to have had the chance to be in a front-running car and have some Sprint Cup success. But he believes things "all worked out for the best."

While Franchitti is solely focused on the IndyCar Series, Danica Patrick has turned her full attention back to open-wheel cars only after running the first three NASCAR Nationwide races this season.

Patrick will concentrate on her IndyCar ride with Andretti for the next four months before returning to the NASCAR circuit the last weekend in June. She will then spend the rest of the season jumping between the drastically different cars, doing the final nine IRL races while also driving in at least 10 more Nationwide races.

Franchitti sees Patrick's NASCAR involvement as a positive for the IndyCar Series.

"I think it will increase the profile a bit because she has such big coverage in her stock car races. Not only in the Nationwide series, but they talk about it during the (Sprint Cup) broadcasts on Fox," he said. "I think it's going to bring fans to the IndyCar Series, and once they see the racing and all that kind of stuff, we'll have some new fans out of it."

As for IndyCar changes this year, Franchitti is looking forward to a schedule that includes more road or street courses than ovals (nine to eight) and getting an opportunity to chat with Randy Bernard, the league's new CEO.

Bernard was head of the Professional Bull Riders Inc. the past 15 years, helping grow the TV audience and attendance at bull-riding events.

"As I understand, I don't know much about him yet, but he's a promoter," Franchitti said. "That's a good thing. I think that is one thing the IndyCar Series would really benefit from."