After the thrilling IZOD IndyCar Series season finale Oct. 2, it’s time to start turning the whispers into open conversation: Just where does Dario Franchitti stand among the all-time greats of Indy car racing?
Dario Franchitti and his wife, Ashley
Some people in the press room at Homestead-Miami Speedway quietly wondered about that before the Cafes do Brasil Indy 300, where Franchitti erased an 12-point deficit over Will Power to win the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series championship. And with three series titles and two Indianapolis 500 victories in the last four seasons, it’s pretty clear that Franchitti is the top IndyCar driver of this generation. No driver who has debuted since 1995 has that kind of resume.
Sure, Sebastien Bourdais won four straight Champ Car titles from 2004-07, but he never won the “500.” And you can technically say this was Dario’s third straight IZOD IndyCar crown. He competed exclusively in NASCAR in 2008, remember?
But here’s one stat that secures Dario’s legend as the best of Generation X and Y: He’s one of just five drivers all time to win the Indianapolis 500 and the national championship in the same season at least twice during their careers.
The others? A.J. Foyt (1961, 1964, 1967), Louis Meyer (1928, 1933), Wilbur Shaw (1937, 1939) and Rodger Ward (1959, 1962). Mighty, mighty impressive company.
Dario clearly walks with the legends.
[...] Make no doubt about it: This guy is the boss of IndyCar racing over the last 15 years. Robin Miller, who knows a thing or 100,000 about great drivers, thinks so. I don’t need as large of an abacus to count my racing knowledge as Robin, but I think so, too. [...]