Franchitti: ‘The heart flutters a little bit’ at IMS
SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH) — It’s been 15 years since IndyCar legend Dario Franchitti first won the Indianapolis 500.
Franchitti recently returned to the Yard of Bricks to speak with Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles.
The result of their conversation is a two-part episode of the IMS series Behind the Bricks. The series can now be viewed on WISHTV.com.
“I had no idea that it would become such a big part of my life and that I would want to win it so much,” Franchitti said.
Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500 on three occasions: 2007, 2010 and 2012. The victories put Franchitti into a group of only six drivers to win the 500 on three occasions.
He also won the IndyCar series on four occasions: 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Franchitti’s first Indianapolis 500 victory in 2007 was both delayed and ultimately shortened by rain.
Franchitti explained to Boles how nervous he was as the rain poured down under caution at the end of the race.
“The biggest thing was actually keeping the car on the circuit, those last two laps under the pace car,” Franchitti said. “I thought, ‘I can’t crash under yellow leading the 500.’ That would have been really bad.”
Due to the rain, Franchitti’s victory was celebrated in the “Green Room” instead of Victory Lane.
“The first face I see is my dad and he’s cheering and then I see my guys and my family and my friends from Scotland are invading,” Franchitti said. “It was like a full on invasion and to see those faces, especially my dad who had been there since, you know, he’s the reason I was driving a racing car. To see that was so cool and to see the mechanics and the engineers, everybody worked so hard. And I pulled in here and all hell broke loose.”
Stay tuned to see part two of the interview with Franchitti.
Boles joined Daybreak on Friday morning to discuss WISH-TV’s partnership with Behind the Bricks, a change in cooler policy in the Snake Pit and the final driver needed to help make 11 rows of three at the Indianapolis 500.
The 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 is May 29. Tickets can be purchased here.
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