Steve Hmiel, the director of competition for Chip Ganassi Racing, said Sunday morning he isn’t sure when Dario Franchitti will be able to return as the driver of the No. 40 Dodge.
Franchitti fractured his left ankle in an accident during the Nationwide Series race Saturday. David Stremme will drive for Franchitti in the Aaron’s 499 Cup race.
“We’re grateful that we have David this weekend,” Hmiel said. “After that, we’ll see where Dario is, sit down as a group and decide who the best option is going forward.”
Franchitti stayed in Talladega Sunday, but he will fly to Indianapolis to see Dr. Terry Trammell, a respected orthopedic surgeon who worked in open-wheel racing for many years.
“He’ll fix me up, he’s done it before,” Franchitti said, according to The Associated Press.
Franchitti told Hmiel he thought he could have raced Sunday, but he will let Trammell determine his status for next weekend’s Cup race at Richmond.
“Dr. Trammell is probably the best at patching up stuff like that,” Hmiel said. “He can perform miracles it seems like. But you would think an ankle injury like this one would take two of three weeks, maybe more.”
- Franchitti’s return still unknown
- Nextel Cup teams test at Milwaukee
- Crash burns truck, damages Fan Store at Pocono Raceway
- Franchitti’s wife Ashley Judd excited on move to NASCAR
- Hornish vows to return to IndyCars
its too bad for him, however stremme did amazing at Dega and I hope he gets himself back into a fulltime ride from his performance.
That was one bad wreck, I had visions of Franchitti being hurt a LOT worse than a broken ankle.
I hope he gets the time to heal properly and is not going to rush it. I think he stands a chance of making it in stock cars if given the time to adjust. A wreck like that in open wheel would have been a lot worse so Im sure he is glad he had all that steel around him in this case…
Is there a video of this crash? I missed it Saturday.
Dustin wrote:
Check ESPN’s website or Youtube.
Thanx Fisha. I already checked youtube, but I haven’t checked ESPN yet, I’ll have to check with them.