Racetrack Insider - News and Views of the Motorsports Industry from Insiders Drew Patey and Buddy Judy

Franchitti Wins Race and Wins Championship in Homestead

Dario Franchitti has won the race in Homestead on Saturday and also won the IndyCar Series championship for the second time in his career as he outlasted Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon in the Homestead finale. While Briscoe and Dixon dominated the race from the front, battling wheel to wheel for victory for most of the afternoon, Franchitti saved enough fuel to avoid the last minute splash and dash stop that his two rivals both had to make. Now some of you hate to hear that this was won by fuel mileage, but let me remind you that fuel strategy or just plain "luck" plays into every race. Safety-Kleen driver Briscoe came home second for Penske, with Dixon completing the podium in the second Ganassi car. The race also set a new record as it ran its full duration without a single full course yellow - a first for the Indy Racing League. But that pace came at a price. With no cautions, the two leaders were burning fuel at a rapid pace. Made to stop with 56 laps to go, the leaders realized they had to stop again. With less than 10 laps to go came Dixon and Briscoe. Franchitti went into the lead and on to the victory. Safety-Kleen's Tony Kanaan charged from the midfield to fourth for Andretti Green, ahead of Briscoe's Penske team-mate Helio Castroneves and AGR's Hideki Mutoh. Dario's victory in the race and his Championship comes as he rejoined the Indy Car Series after he spent one year in NASCAR. The victories for Chip Ganassi shows that Ganassi has built a great team in the Indy Car Series, the Grand Am Series and in NASCAR. Todd Klein from the Medley, Fl branch coordinated the Safety-Kleen crew to provide the services at the track this past Championship week. Thanks for all the good work.