Franchitti's imminent NASCAR defection will hurt IRL

Dario Franchitti will take the IRL series title and wife Ashley Judd with him to NASCAR once he signs with Chip Ganassi. Darrell Ingham/Getty Images

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JOLIET, Ill. -- Dario Franchitti streaked past an out-of-fuel Scott Dixon with half a lap remaining to win the IndyCar Series championship Sunday in a dramatic conclusion to his all-conquering season.

You might remember that Franchitti is also the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion. Who could forget his wife, actress Ashley Judd, running barefoot through the rain down the track to join him in Victory Circle in May?

This was Franchitti's dream season. It's his first major championship and first of any kind since 1993, when the Scotsman was at the start of his career.

Oh, yeah, Franchitti won Sunday's race, too, at Chicagoland Speedway, his fourth of 2007. He had four in 50 IndyCar starts prior to this season.

What a great season for Franchitti. What a nightmare for the IndyCar Series.

Franchitti is leaving for NASCAR, as soon as Chip Ganassi can negotiate his release from Andretti Green Racing. Franchitti is under contract to AGR until Dec. 1 and Ganassi needs to get him into a Busch car to prepare for the Nextel Cup next season.

Multiple sources have said Franchitti will drive Ganassi's No. 40, which opened up this week when sponsor Coors decided not to renew and David Stremme's option was not exercised. A new sponsor for Franchitti has been arranged.

It's possible the fast-moving deal hasn't been signed, but it seems certain to happen. Ganassi and Franchitti wouldn't talk about it, but they didn't deny it either.

"I'm not going to talk about next year," Franchitti said. "I'm going to enjoy having won this championship today. I won't think about the decision to be made about next year [until] next week or the week after. Right now, I'm just going to have a good time tonight and celebrate winning this IndyCar championship."

The IndyCar Championship Celebration will be held Tuesday night in Indianapolis. Franchitti wouldn't want to detract anything from it. He deserves to savor the taste for a few days at least before embarking on his new career.

Franchitti's defection stunned the IndyCar paddock. He had talked about NASCAR as an "option," but few took him seriously. If Franchitti left IndyCar, it would be to drive sports cars for AGR's American Le Mans Series and that would leave him time to race at Indianapolis. Most believed he would return to IndyCar for a full season.

IndyCar will also likely lose Sam Hornish Jr., its three-time champion and winner of Indy in 2006, to the Nextel Cup next season. Hornish departing would also be a devastating blow to a series in need of developing star power, but it won't be a big surprise. Hornish has run six Busch races this season for Penske Racing, his IndyCar team, and will make his Cup debut next week at New Hampshire.

Having Franchitti to market and publicize would soften the blow. He's charming and interesting -- a Scotsman with an Italian name -- and married to a beautiful movie star who attends most of the races. He's also a tremendous driver and thoughtful and articulate, which makes him popular with the media IndyCar has.

For IndyCar, it's a probable double hit, losing the last two Indy 500 winners and champions It's a painful situation for a series trying to find a title sponsor.

IndyCar still has some strong story lines and talented drivers.

Danica Patrick is one of the best-known female athletes in America. Even though she completed her third season without a victory, Patrick was competitive enough to keep her credibility by finishing seventh in the championship.

Helio Castroneves is a two-time Indy 500 winner with an effervescent personality who will be on ABC's Dancing With The Stars this fall.

Marco Andretti had an absolutely awful sophomore IndyCar season, but he's still the youngest winner of a major open-wheel race in North American history and he's an Andretti. Andretti crashed at Chicagoland, the 10th race he didn't finish out of 17.

Dixon came a couple of pints of Ethanol from winning his second championship. He was faster than Franchitti, who had tried mightily to pass him on the outside following a restart with three laps to go and failed.

Dixon was the IndyCar champion in 2003 and he's only 27. The New Zealander had four wins this year and has 10 in his career. He has fans, no doubt, but Dixon doesn't have the panache of Franchitti.

Neither does Dan Wheldon, Dixon's teammate at Ganassi. He pulled off the double -- Indy and the championship -- in 2005 and, with two wins this season, has 13 in his career. Wheldon is 29, but he'd like to go to NASCAR, too. Ganassi told him no for 2008.

Tony Kanaan is popular among IndyCar fans, was the series 2004 champion and is always a contender at Indianapolis and is signed with AGR for two more seasons. He's a building block for IndyCar.

Buddy Rice, the 2004 Indy champion, had a decent season, ninth in the points. The veteran Scott Sharp, who has nine IndyCar wins, rebounded from 12th a year ago to eighth in the points and showed he has something left at age 39. A.J. Foyt IV has that famous name and showed progress this season with Vision Racing, but has no job for 2008.

IndyCar has a solid foundation of known drivers, but it needs more and is desperate for more stars. Franchitti's 2007 season elevated him to superstar status and his decision to leave for NASCAR is the worst thing that could happen to IndyCar.