Don’t Blame Him: Franchitti

Often seen this year complaining about either another driver, a procedure, or an official call, Dario sure has become quite the villain. It has been hard to cheer on the guy that I first saw debut in 1997 for Hogan Racing in CART. And that he is on pace - unless Power beats him - to claim his fourth career Indy Car title (in five years) is hard to enjoy when the super Scot on Super Target’s super squad is a super bitch. His whines aside, he has been good at something: owning the series. He has been nothing short of dominant since his days at Team Kool Green. He has never slowed down, even if creeping up on forty, over the hill in racing speak. He continues to school young drivers, continues to give his endless effort at every race, has become quite a friendly character to the mics shoved in his face each weekend, when he’s not griping. There are a lot of things to like and hate about this guy. But either way, don’t blame him. He’s just being Dario, and Dario is good at one thing, winning in Indy Cars. He’s done it since 1998 and could continue as long as he has a ride. It is hard, but try not to lose sight of one simple fact that he is closing in on. We are in the midst of seeing something that only one driver has come within a sniff of accomplishing since Mario won his fourth Indy Car title in 1984. Sebastien Bourdais dominated Champ Cars from 2004-2007, so the fact that fields in today’s Indy Car Series are much deeper with talent makes it that much more impressive. This is historic stuff we are witnessing, and it is hard to appreciate when the driver is often viewed as a titty baby who needs to chill out. But don’t blame Dario, because he is just doing what he can to go as fast as he can with all the pressure that would be on someone in this type of situation. So, whether you like or hate him, enjoy this small piece of history, because who knows when we will see anything like it again?

Of course Randy Bernard says he supports Brian Brainfart! He has to say that, otherwise it would leaves his series, and race control, exposed to more keyboard armed snipers. But whatever this series has as the race control, is NOT working when every week you hear drivers flat out saying they do not respect or even listen to the guy. I mean, Brian, dude, you’re screwed. You cannot throw anyone else under the bus, because you are all that is left. I believe Randy will make a move at season’s end. This has to be true, otherwise ratings will continue to drop. So nobody worry about his press conference when he said he supports Brian Brainfart. We have heard this before in other sports, like when Nick Saban said he would NOT leave the Miami Dolphins to coach Alabama. Or, most recently, Bud Adams saying he will keep coach Jeff Fisher and quarterback Vince Young on the Titans payroll… And how did those work out? Exactly! So take heart, US open wheel racing fans, something positive will happen… It has to.