Sacramento Bee - CA, USA - And for good reasons. After plenty of frustration, the veteran driver won the 2007 Indianapolis 500 in a milestone achievement as the first Scottish winner in 42 years. He leads the IndyCar standings in a gripping championship race that's coming down to the wire. He starts from the pole today in the Motorola Indy 300 at Infineon Raceway in what he hopes will be another step toward his first title.

Yet before this season, when Franchitti showed up at a racetrack, the first question many people asked was, "Where's your wife?" Such is life for Franchitti, who is married to actress

Sacramento Bee - CA, USA - Dario Franchitti led an Andretti Green Racing parade in Saturday's IndyCar qualifying for Sunday's Motorola Indy 300 at Infineon Raceway. Franchitti, the current IndyCar points leader and winner of the 2007 Indianapolis 500, posted a fast lap of 107.951 mph over the 12-turn, 2.26-mile road course.

But in a big surprise, teammate Danica Patrick will start alongside Franchitti on the front row. Patrick, who is still seeking her first IndyCar victory, moved up four positions from sixth to second in IndyCar's "Fast Six" format, where the six fastest qualifiers have 10 minutes of extra track time to improve their position. Patrick

Albuquerque Tribune - Albuquerque, NM, USA - Dario Franchitti likes to fly.

His helicopter, that is.

In the past two Indy Racing League events, Franchitti has gotten airborne in a way he doesn't prefer.

In Michigan, it wasn't his fault. Dan Wheldon hit his right rear tire and Franchitti went straight in the air.

But last Saturday in Kentucky, it was his fault. He apparently didn't know the race was over and plowed into the back of Kosuke Matsuura's car, sending Franchitti on another wild ride through the air.

Luckily for the Scotsman, he was uninjured in both accidents. He had a bruised nose after Michigan, but hey, that's nothing compared to

Nascar - USA - The next prominent open-wheel driver to break into NASCAR could be Indianapolis 500 champion Dario Franchitti.

But don't expect to see Ashley Judd flitting along the frontstretch in sundresses just yet. Franchitti is friends with Nextel Cup team owner Richard Childress, who's had preliminary discussions with the 34-year-old Scotsman about possibly piloting a fourth car for Richard Childress Racing next season.

"If you watch him race, he races every lap just as hard as he can," Childress said Friday at Michigan International Speedway. "That's what impresses me about him. A lot of open-wheel guys have come here and tried it. I think