Franchitti returns to title throne in a moving, inspirational journey

Dario Franchitti picked up his second IndyCar championship in Miami. AP

MIAMI -- Just one night after becoming the "Comeback Kid" by winning his second IndyCar Series title, Dario Franchitti got the ultimate show of respect from his fellow drivers.

After receiving the IndyCar cup, Franchitti was picked up by his fellow drivers Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe, who tossed him in the pool at the W Hotel on South Beach.

Win an IndyCar title and get tossed in the pool.

But the soaking-wet Scotsman didn't mind one bit because he had returned to the pinnacle of his sport after an ill-fated attempt at NASCAR Sprint Cup racing in 2008 was parked for lack of sponsorship.

Franchitti thought his days as a race driver were coming to an end, but team owner Chip Ganassi knew that wasn't the case. He offered Franchitti a chance to return to IndyCar as the driver of the No. 10 entry at Target/Chip Ganassi Racing where he would team with 2008 IndyCar champ Dixon.

Together, the two formed the most powerful 1-2 combination in IndyCar racing, with Franchitti winning Saturday's Firestone Indy 300 and the 2009 championship by 11 points over Dixon.

But Franchitti's second-straight IndyCar crown came with a twist.

"I guess you could say I was on holiday in 2008," said Franchitti, referring to the fact he did not participate in IndyCar while he attempted to switch to NASCAR. "But I wouldn't change anything, and I've said that all along. I wouldn't change the decisions I made. I got to go do something completely different, have a bit of a holiday and realize what I was missing and come back and come back with the best team in the paddock.

"I learned things as a driver. I got to drive in stock car, I got out of my comfort zone, and I learned a lot of new things, and there's things that I can apply to IndyCar. That's made me a better driver.

"I'm absolutely where I should be. I should be in IndyCars. That is what I grew up to do, race in the IndyCar Series. I wouldn't change my decision I made."

It was Ganassi who had lured Franchitti to NASCAR in the first place. In 2007, Franchitti was in the final year of his contract with Andretti Green Racing and battling with Ganassi driver Dixon for the IndyCar championship. When Dixon ran out of fuel in the last turn of the last lap of the final race of the season at Chicagoland Speedway, Franchitti sped past to win both the race and the 2007 title.

One month later, Franchitti signed with Ganassi to drive in NASCAR Sprint Cup because he wanted "a new challenge."

That's exactly what he got as the challenge was not only difficult on the race track but in sponsorship as well. Franchitti suffered a broken ankle when he was involved in a crash in a Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on April 26, 2008.

Out of the race car while he was recovering from the injury, Franchitti decided to visit his old mates at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during practice for the 2008 Indianapolis 500.

"From about May onwards, I had kind of been getting this hankering on for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway," Franchitti admitted. "When I had my broken ankle I kind of worked around it, and it got me thinking about coming back. I'm the kind of person when I do something, I immerse myself in it and I had immersed myself in NASCAR.

"But Chip had come a couple of times and said something like, "Hey, we could do an IndyCar deal," and that was that."

Franchitti recalled getting the phone call from Ganassi last June, informing him he was parking his NASCAR ride because of lack of sponsorship.

"He told me that we were closing the team down because he couldn't continue to pay out of pocket. It was going to bring the whole team down, and that was a pretty tough call for him to make," Franchitti said. "A lot of people lost their jobs at a bad time.

"I wondered what was going to happen. I had some offers to do some sports car stuff. So Chip and I had been talking about various options for this year. I went to Detroit to watch my brother race and to talk with Chip about my options."

And that option included a return to IndyCar where he would replace Dan Wheldon in the No. 10 car.

It didn't take long for Franchitti to make the right decision.

"The most bizarre thing, we agreed to the deal, two minutes, 30 minutes, and then we argued for about eight hours on this stupid point," Franchitti recalled. "Chip sat me down and grilled me pretty hard in Detroit: Why do I want to come back to IndyCar? Was I up for the challenge and ready to do it again and give 100 percent?

"I'm just glad they invited me back to come and play. I really enjoyed it. I wanted to be part of the unified series, the places we get to race at and the people I get to race against and the cars I get to drive. It's pretty cool."

It didn't take long for Franchitti to show that he belonged in IndyCar. He won the second race of the season in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in April. He was a leading contender to win the Indianapolis 500 but watched another "Comeback Kid" drive to victory when Helio Castroneves won his third Indy 500.

Franchitti would challenge for the championship and arrived at Homestead-Miami Speedway just five points behind Dixon in the championship. He won the pole on Friday and gained one point so he entered the race four points behind Dixon.

He discovered early in Saturday's race that his car didn't have the speed to race with Dixon and Ryan Briscoe -- the only other title contender -- so he switched to fuel conservation mode.

Franchitti was able to win Saturday's race by making three pit stops while Dixon and Briscoe had to make four stops. When Dixon pitted for fuel with seven laps to go and Briscoe pitted just five laps from the checkered flag, Franchitti was in the lead.

He proved to be good to the last drop, winning a career-high fifth race of the season and his second championship.

Comeback complete.

"I didn't think I'd win five races and a championship in my first year back," Franchitti said. "I knew driving for team Target, I'd have good equipment, just a question of could I get back into it and compete at a level that I had already.

"From that second win at Long Beach, the winner in the second race at Long Beach, I knew we could get it done. If there were any regrets, I guess it was at Indy. We felt Scott and I had winning cars and we didn't execute, so it took us some weeks to make up for that."

Shortly after winning Saturday night's race, Franchitti reflected on another championship battle that he had lost 10 years ago. That's when he finished tied with then-rookie Juan Montoya in CART series points but lost the championship on the tiebreaker because Montoya had seven wins to Franchitti's three.

But Franchitti lost something much more important that day -- he lost his best friend, Greg Moore, who was killed earlier in that race when he lost control in the second turn and slammed into the infield retaining wall at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

"I don't really think about that as far as oh, my God, I lost the championship this day," Franchitti said. "It will be ten years ago in a couple of weeks. I think about Greg Moore all the time. But especially -- when I go to Fontana and then come here I always think about it. Greg Moore won his last race here. We had the party to end all parties after that one. That was quite something.

"We lost a great guy that day. It's tough to talk about it quite a lot. You sit and think, if he was here today we'd be finishing second."

Dario Franchitti continues to carry Moore in his heart every day of his life.

And Franchitti's "Comeback Kid" season is heartwarming and inspiring as well, proving that he could leave a series, try NASCAR and come back to IndyCar as a true winner.

Team Penske president Tim Cindric said it best when asked to describe the remarkable comeback story of the 2009 IndyCar Series champion.

"He left the series as a champion in 2007 and he returned to the series as a champion tonight," Cindric said.