There were many times in Dario Franchitti’s racing career at Chip Ganassi Racing where one of the drivers was able to celebrate a win while the other had to deal with the disappointment of a loss. His teammate at that time was Scott Dixon and the Franchitti-Dixon battles for Indianapolis 500 wins and NTT IndyCar Series championships were among the best in recent history.
In addition to being rivals, the two also became very good friends.
Franchitti’s driving career ended at the end of the 2013 season, but he has remained an important part of Chip Ganassi Racing as a driver coach, working with both Dixon and rookie driver Felix Rosenqvist.
Franchitti was reminded of the duality of his role on Sunday in the Grand Prix of Portland as Rosenqvist finished second for the second time this season. Dixon, however, went from cruising to potential victory to being virtually eliminated from the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series championship.
A battery issue in Dixon’s Honda caused it to lose Power. Dixon’s crew was able to repair the issue and he returned to the race, but finished 16th, three laps down to race winner Will Power. To win a sixth series title this season, Dixon needs to win the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sept. 22 and have the other title contenders have subpar-to-poor results, and that's asking a lot.
“Scott has had incredibly bad luck on the PNC Bank side of things,” Franchitti told NTT INDYCAR Mobile after the race. “At St. Louis, Dixon was running, and a part of another car went through is radiator. Here, he was dominating and pulling away, making incredible fuel mileage and had a failure.
“I feel really bad for him because he is out of championship contention, though no fault of his own.”
But there is another side to Franchitti’s story, and it is his close working relationship with the rookie driver from Sweden.
“On the other side on the NTT side of things, Felix is doing a great job,” Franchitti continued. “He had a strong race at St. Louis, was second at Mid-Ohio behind Scott and a second-place today. He is learning all the time. The speed is there.
“It’s fun to come to work when you have fast cars and two really, really fast drivers.”
At 39, Dixon is able to handle the disappointments of things that are out of his control.
“It will probably fester for quite a while, but he doesn’t let anyone see it,” Franchitti said. “That was one of my things; I never showed emotion. Scott is the same. He doesn’t show when he is having a bad day or a great day for that matter. You don’t know what he is thinking.
“As a competitor, I would use that to my advantage and that is what Scott does. He knows he has had a great season. It’s just been luck for him and his crew.”
For Rosenqvist, Franchitti expects some really big things from the driver from Sweden.
“Of course, he can do big things, he has massive amounts of talent,” Franchitti said. “Felix has to work really hard over the winter to improve his weak spots and allow him to maximize the raw talent that he has got.”
Franchitti would prefer to still be behind the wheel but has grown to love his role with the team.
“I love it,” Franchitti said. “I would love to be in the car, but I can’t do that. Hopefully, I can let my experience help Felix and Scott. I get tremendous satisfaction out of doing this job and working with the Ganassi team.
“I feel very fortunate to get to do this job.”
INDYCAR concludes its 17-race season with the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sunday, Sept. 22. Television coverage will begin on NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. PT local) with the green flag scheduled for 3:15 p.m. (12:15 p.m. local). Live radio broadcasts will be available on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (XM 205, Sirius 98, Internet/App 970).