Indy winner Franchitti targets Indy/Milwaukee double
Juan Pablo Montoya was the last driver to score back-to-back victories at Indy and then Milwaukee. Can Dario Franchitti follow suit? We'll find out Sunday, writes John Oreovicz.
It's been nearly 40 years since Luther Erding -- Robert "R.J." Wagner's character in the Indy-themed movie "Winning" -- uttered the memorable line: "Everyone goes to Milwaukee after Indianapolis."
But that generally hasn't been the case since 1995.
The Champ Car World Series retained Milwaukee's early June open-wheel date after the CART/IRL split of 1996, and it wasn't until 2004 that the IndyCar Series actually staged a race at the Mile -- with a late July date.
By then, attendance for the June Champ Car race had declined dramatically from the early '90s, when the venerable old track at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds was routinely packed. Champ Car tried racing at night (it was cold!), but the novelty didn't bring back the crowds and the series quietly dropped oval racing from its schedule this year.
The IndyCar Series was only too happy to take over what it considers a sacred date. For years, the Milwaukee Mile trumpeted the opportunity to see the latest freshly minted Indy 500 winner in action as a draw to sell seats, and it will be interesting to observe the attendance this year if the weather cooperates.
Indianapolis 500 champion Dario Franchitti will try to match the nine drivers who have done the Indy/Milwaukee double, most recently Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000 for Target/Ganassi Racing. The Colombian won Indy in his one and only Indy Racing League start before earning Toyota's first CART Champ Car victory at the Mile a week later.
Franchitti and Andretti Green Racing spent most of the 2006 IndyCar Series season chasing Team Penske and Target/Ganassi Racing. But one of the few venues where the roles were reversed was Milwaukee, site of this weekend's ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt Indy 225 (Sunday, 4 p.m. ET, ABC). Last year, all four AGR entries finished in the top seven at Milwaukee, led by Tony Kanaan, who will be keen to avenge the disappointment of his 11th-place finish in the Indianapolis 500.
"Last year we had to work very hard to earn the victory and this year will be the same for sure," said Kanaan. "The track suits my driving style and we've had some success there in the recent past."
Much as he did last week at Indy, the Brazilian dominated the 2006 Milwaukee race, leading 127 of 225 laps. But he had to fight off a stern challenge from Marco Andretti, who had arguably drove the best oval race of his rookie IndyCar season, leading 39 laps on the way to fifth place.
Marco finished directly behind Danica Patrick, who is now his teammate at AGR. If fourth place represents Patrick's high-water mark in IndyCar competition, the fourth place she earned at Milwaukee in 2006 was the most impressive one. She was fast and aggressive all day, and unlike 2005 (when she was fast in the race but crashed), DP made it to the finish. Armed with AGR's short-oval setup, Patrick could contend for the podium this weekend.
"I know AGR has had success there in the past and I will hopefully be able to tap into that for my car," said Patrick, who grew up about 60 miles from Milwaukee in Roscoe, Ill.
A driver with finesse and patience and a consistent chassis setup are the keys to victory at Milwaukee, so it's no surprise that Indy winner Franchitti claimed his first IndyCar Series race win there in 2004. This is the first time in his four-year IRL career that Franchitti has emerged from the month of May at Indianapolis as a championship contender, and he also has the momentum of his big win at the Brickyard working for him as well.
Of course, he's bound to be a bit weary after a weeklong promotional tour to honor his win at Indianapolis.
"It's been a busy week, but I'm ready to get back in the car -- especially as good as ours have been this year," he said. "I love the track at Milwaukee and I've been thinking about the race since the postrace photographs were done at Indianapolis."
Franchitti ranks third in a tight championship battle, three points behind Indy runner-up Scott Dixon. Dan Wheldon, the IndyCar Series' only two-race winner this season, is just one point behind his Ganassi teammate.
However, Dixon is wary heading into Milwaukee because short ovals were the Ganassi team's least competitive type of tracks in 2006.
"I think this next little part of the schedule is the hardest stint for our team," remarked Dixon, who qualified and finished 10th at Milwaukee in July 2006. "Out of the next four races, we have three short ovals with Iowa, Richmond and Milwaukee, so hopefully we can gain points out of those. It's going to be a bit of a test for us to see how we fare on those. Luckily there's not too many of them, considering how we did last year."
Team Penske swept the front at Milwaukee a year ago, with Helio Castroneves setting an IRL track record pole speed of 172.477 mph. But HCN tangled with back marker Ed Carpenter in the race, finishing 14th in what might have been the critical blow to his championship hopes.
In 2005, Castroneves and teammate Hornish bumped when they were dicing for the lead and the Brazilian crashed. Hornish went on to win, and he finished second at the Mile in 2006.
Tomas Scheckter claimed Vision Racing's only podium finish to date with a third-place run at Milwaukee last year.
"I've had two great runs at Milwaukee over the past couple of years, so I'm ready to give it another go," said the South African. "Last year was so rewarding and no question I'd like to return and battle for the teams first win."
Only 18 cars are entered for the ABC Supply 225 as rookie Milka Duno will sit this race out before returning for the June 10 race at Texas Motor Speedway.
John Oreovicz covers open-wheel racing for National Speed Sport News and ESPN.com.
