ANDRETTI - GREEN (JAPAN) - Dario Franchitti on the Indy Japan 300:

"I'm really looking forward to going back to Japan. We always have great reception from the fans there. We hope to have the Canadian Club car up front and get that elusive victory."

Dario Franchitti Facts * Despite running in the top three for most of the 2006 Indy Japan 300, an incident on lap 145 put him a lap down and outside the top ten with an 11th place finish. * Franchitti has two podium finishes at Twin Ring Motegi. He finished second in 2000 and third in 2002. * After being on the verge of going two laps down early on in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Franchitti made an impressive comeback and piloted the Canadian Club car to a top-five finish. * Along with teammates Bryan Herta and Tony Kanaan, Franchitti drove to a win at the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 17. The trio collected the LMP2 class victory in AGR's first ALMS start. * Franchitti finished eighth in the 2006 IndyCar Series driver championship despite missing the final race of the season due to an injury. * Franchitti accumulated three top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 2006. His highest finishes included second at Infineon Raceway (Aug. 25), third at Richmond International Raceway (June 24) and seventh at the Indianapolis 500 (May 28). * He collected IndyCar Series wins at Nashville and California in 2005. * Franchitti has recorded three career IndyCar Series pole positions, those coming at Texas (June 10, 2004), California (Oct. 26, 2005) and St. Petersburg (April 2, 2006). * Three of his 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 at Nashville Superspeedway (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 driver