LONG POND, Pa. — Dario Franchitti ditched the crutches and the cast for a more comfortable fit: his spot in the No. 40 Dodge.
Franchitti returned to the track on Tuesday for the first time since he broke his left ankle in a hard crash at Talladega Superspeedway. Franchitti exhaled as he settled in the seat before he sped away to start testing at Pocono Raceway.
The former Indy Car Series champion now in his first season in NASCAR said he felt no pain or discomfort and planned to drive in the Nationwide Series race on Saturday at Dover International Speedway. Franchitti said he was questionable for the 400-mile Sprint Cup Series race and might return to Cup action in two weeks at Pocono.
Jeremy Mayfield could sub for Franchitti on Sunday.
“So far, it’s been tough,” Franchitti said.
Franchitti was injured only 10 laps into a Nationwide Series race last month at Talladega. The 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner is 42nd in points, and failed to qualify for the race in Texas. He said he was feeling close to 100 percent, and turned a personal top time of 161.005 mph on Tuesday.
“It’s been a tough baptism there,” Franchitti said. “Nationwide went pretty well, I thought, until Talladega and the accident.”
He said he had no second thoughts about making the leap from Indy Car to NASCAR. Franchitti said he watched like any other fan when Scott Dixon held off Vitor Meira to win the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.
“I closed that chapter in my life,” he said. “I didn’t really miss driving the car and competing in the race. It would be nice to go there and see the spectacle there and not drive. I really enjoyed the race, watching it.”
EX-TEAMMATES SPAT: Jeff Gordon understands why Kyle Busch could be upset with getting bumped from Hendrick Motorsports.
What Gordon doesn’t get is why his former teammate was upset with him for some hard racing at the end of the Coca-Cola 600. Busch was angry at Gordon and the two had a brief confrontation at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
“He just likes to do things the hard way,” Gordon said. “I made him have to earn it and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like the fact I raced him hard and he wanted to complain about it. I wasn’t in the mood to discuss it at the moment.”
Busch finished third and Gordon fourth. Gordon said Busch probably has some “bitterness” over the way he parted with Hendrick, a move necessary to make room for Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Busch has rebounded nicely at Joe Gibbs Racing — he leads the points race.
“Look at the situation he’s in,” Gordon said, laughing. “Shoot, I feel like we did him a favor. He’s fast, he’s leading the points, he’s winning races. He’s really got the sport in the palm of his hand right now.
“I think he’s not appreciating and respecting that because he could have easily drove by me the other night.”
CHAMP IS HERE: Two-time Cup champion Terry Labonte was bored sitting at home. What better way to shake off the doldrums than return to drive for Petty Enterprises?
Labonte and Chad McCumbee will each drive the No. 45 car while Kyle Petty takes a break to attend his daughter’s wedding and broadcast Sprint Cup Series races for TNT. McCumbee will drive Sunday at Dover and at Chicago. Labonte will drive the car in the other three races and got some work in at Tuesday’s test session.
“I thought I might as well,” Labonte said. “My wife told me the other day I needed a hobby. I thought I might as well do this.”
Labonte will be teammates at Petty with his younger brother, Bobby.
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