Dario Franchitti

Dario Marino Franchitti (born May 19, 1973) Is a driver in the IndyCar series from Scottland. He is a two time Indy 500 winner and has 4 IndyCar Championships. Franchitti is married to actress Ashley Judd

CART
Franchitti began his American open wheel racing career in 1997 for Hogan Racing. In 1998 he joined Team Green and won three races and finished third in the season standings. Franchitti finished runner-up in 1999 behind rookie Juan Montoya. Both drivers scored 212 points, but Montoya had seven wins to Franchitti's three and was crowned champion. A close friend of Franchitti Greg Moore died in a crash in the 1999 season finale at Fontana.

A bad accident before the 2000 season hurt Franchitti for most of the season where he was unable to win a single race. In 2001 he returned to the winners circle at Cleveland. He dedicated his 2002 win at Vancouver to his close friend Greg Moore who was Canadian.

IRL
Franchitti moved to the Indycar Series in 2003 with Team Green but was injured in a motorcycle accident and was only able to run three races in 2003. In 2004 he returned to win at Milwaukee and Pikes Peak. In 2005 he added two more victories, but went winless in 2006.

In 2007 Franchitti's time had come he won the Indy 500 early on in the season which propelled him to winning 3 more races and capture his first Indycar Series Title. Following the season he left IRL after being involved in two violent crashes during the season to go to Nascar where he struggle badly before returning.

IndyCar Series
When Franchitti returned in 2009 he joined the now unified IndyCar Series but he didn't miss a beat, Dario scooping five wins, two second and two third placings and taking the series championship in his second consecutive attempt over teammate Scott Dixon by 11 points.

In 2010 Dario Franchitti captured the 94th Indy 500 in a dominating performance that seen him lead over 150 laps. A late surge in 2010 seen Franchitti pass Will Power to take the 2010 Championship. In 2011 he took 4 more victories and passed Rick Mears for 9th all time in American Open Wheel racing victories. Once again in 2011 Franchitti overcame a large points deficient to beat Will Power but his 4th championship was muted after the final race of the season seen the death of another close friend of Franchitti Dan Wheldon.

Franchitti has 8 CART victories, 8 IRL wins, and 12 IndyCar Series wins.