The four-time IndyCar Series Champion and 2011 IndyCar St. Pete Grand Prix winner Dario Franchitti is making his first NASCAR start since 2008 and competing in his first nationally sanctioned race of any kind since 2013.
That’s the power of his longtime friend, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Cup Series LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team owner Jimmie Johnson, who persuaded Franchitti to return to the driver’s seat this weekend to steer the No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota on the streets of St. Pete.
“He’s worked hard at putting this whole thing together from the very first conversation,’’ Franchitti said of the NASCAR Hall of Famer Johnson, who has even committed to helping guide Franchitti during the race from atop the pit box.
“Jimmie is going to be there giving me advice. Even two nights ago he’s on the phone 11:00 at night and 7:00 the next morning talking about restarts. He’s fully into it (smiling).
“When you have a seven-time NASCAR champion with you there getting that information, I wish he’d been there in 2008 doing that job. It would have helped,’’ Franchitti joked of his NASCAR foray nearly 20 years ago.
“There’s no substitute for experience. He might be thinking at some point he wished he got in the truck and drove it here instead of me, depending on how I get on.”
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