Klein Tools/Canadian Club 2006 Watkins Glen Fact Sheet
May 30, 2006 Indianapolis, Ind. Klein Tools/Canadian Club Driver Dario Franchitti 2006 Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix Fact Sheet Who: #27 Klein Tools/Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone driver Dario Franchitti What: Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix, Round 5 of the Indy Racing League® IndyCar® Series Where: Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, N.Y. When: Sunday, June 4, 2006 Television: ABC Sports (Live), 3:30 p.m. (EDT) Dario Franchitti on the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix: "Watkins Glen is a very enjoyable track to drive and I'm looking forward to returning there. The Klein Tools/Canadian Club team continues to climb in the championship and we had a good result at Indianapolis. Based on the car we had at St. Petersburg, I expect to be running up front and challenging for a win at Watkins Glen." Dario Franchitti Facts Franchitti finished third at the 2005 Watkins Glen race, his only IndyCar Series start at the track. He finished seventh at the 2006 Indianapolis 500. He is tied for seventh place in the IndyCar Series driver championship with teammate Bryan Herta. Franchitti sat on the pole and led the first 14 laps at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg before a right-front suspension failure ended his day. Franchitti collected IndyCar Series wins at Nashville and California in 2005. He finished fourth in the 2005 driver point standings with 498 points, his highest IndyCar Series finish. Franchitti had eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 2005. He led 448 laps in 2005 to rank second among lap leaders. The Scotsman has recorded three career IndyCar Series pole positions, those coming at Texas (June 10, 2004), California (Oct. 16, 2005) and St. Petersburg (April 2, 2006). Three of Franchitti's four IndyCar Series victories have come on tracks of 1.33 miles or smaller, including the 1-mile ovals at Milwaukee (2004) and Pikes Peak (2004) and the 1.33-mile Nashville track (2005). His fourth victory came on the two-mile D-shaped oval at California Speedway (2005). Franchitti has 14 major open-wheel racing victories and 14 career pole positions. Since 1998, Franchitti has won more American major open-wheel races than all but four drivers. Dario Franchitti IndyCar Series Statistics Top Top Laps Starts Wins 5 10 Poles Led Pts (Rk) Earnings 2006 4 0 1 2 1 14 89 (T-7th) $477,905 Career 41 4 15 25 3 811 $3,169,015 John Anderson, Team Manager, #27 Klein Tools/Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone on the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix: "Watkins Glen is obviously a quite different track from the other road course we've been on this year at St. Petersburg. It's a very technical track with elevation changes. When you consider last year's test and race, along with Dario's experience, I'm very confident that the Klein Tools/Canadian Club team will have an extremely good result."