In His Own Words - Dario Franchitti

Indianapolis, October 29, 209:Throughout the offseason, IndyCar Series drivers will discuss their 2009 season. Here is the perspective of Dario Franchitti, the 2009 IndyCar Series champion:

Winning a second IndyCar Series championship is very sweet, especially after the year I went through in NASCAR in 2008, when we had to park the car because of lack of sponsorship. Luckily, team owner Chip Ganassi gave me the opportunity to do what I do best and that is driving an IndyCar. I have to really thank Chip for giving me the chance to come back.

So to say I was very motivated would be an understatement. It was a tough year last year for all kinds of reasons. The first time I drove the car was at a road course test and then I got to race in Australia. I have such good memories of that place and getting back in the car got me so motivated about this team and the equipment they give you.

I wasn't out to prove a point; I just wanted to win again.

The Australia race last year was a great way to get started off with Chip's team. With testing the way it is limited in the IndyCar Series now they say, `Hey, we're going to let you go to Australia.' I was, `Oh, fantastic.' That really helped give it a jump-start with the guys on the team. I knew a lot of the guys to say hello to them but I didn't know their names. And working with Scott Dixon for the first time gave us a four- or five-month head start. That was really helpful.

Scott and I had enjoyed racing against each other on different teams but now we were teammates. We are still learning each other's ways. We definitely have different ways of going about things. Scott is fairly relaxed about the way he does everything. I'm more focused. Don't mistake Scott being relaxed with a lack of application; it's just he is so comfortable with his engineer. I'm more into the details of things and I always have been.

At St. Petersburg, I had the best start of the year for me to go from fifth to second in the first corner. I was really happy to get away with that one. I was running second to Justin Wilson and Ryan Briscoe and Ryan Hunter-Reay got a little lucky with the yellow and jumped us. We finished fourth but we had a car that could have won.

So we moved on to Long Beach where I won the race and Scott finished 15th. Will Power parked in his pit at St. Pete and that screwed his race and then Ryan Briscoe took him out under yellow at Long Beach. He was a bit ticked at the Penske boys for a while.

As for myself, Long Beach was great. For everything Chip Ganassi and I went through last year it was the point where `yes, this is why I came back.' The car was really good. I got into that street course rhythm again and didn't have to drive above 80 percent the rest of the race.

Long Beach was always the signature event in the CART series so this year to win Long Beach and Toronto was big for me. I had won Toronto 10 years before and finished second to Juan Montoya at Long Beach. That was the one I wanted to win so to get that was great.

But then it was off to Kansas where I started on the pole and they got me for crossing the white line, then I had the brake failure in the pits, which was very entertaining.

Indianapolis was a very big indicator for us. The first time we went out and had the car dialed in we managed to get my car exactly how I wanted it and was driving it well, then I started thinking Indy is as tough a place as we go to and if I can run as well as we did there; we can do that anywhere.

Helio Castroneves got most of the attention that month but that didn't really matter to me. I've done this long enough that I don't pay attention to what is being said or written because I'm under the team bubble. I had as good a car this year as the year I won it in 2007 but that last pit stop just killed us.

After being at Indy for the month of May, then the schedule really picks up with races every weekend but I just take them one at a time. If the races are five days apart - whatever -- I just take them one at a time. That seems to have worked for me. There were a lot of races this year where we had the fastest car and didn't win for a variety of reasons. Then, at the end of the year at Homestead, we didn't have the fastest car but we got the job done.

This year when I won at Iowa, at least our dog, Shug, didn't run off. That was a stressful time when he ran off in 2007. Iowa worked out well for me. When we had to go, we went. We did what we had to do in the middle of the race and then at the end, we turned up the wick and went. To win at Iowa again was really cool.

That it was obvious that nobody with the points lead would hold on to it from one race to the next. It was so close that one little slip each week; the other guys were right on you or vice-versa. It was so intense. Tony Kanaan to start off with was strong but Indy was the tipping point and he struggled after that where everything that could go wrong did. After that, it was pretty much a three-man race.

I knew I was getting the good stuff at the Target team but I didn't take that for granted. I thought I could do it - I believed in myself - but nobody was going to give it to me. I hoped it was possible but I didn't expect the championship.

So when we got to Japan, I was 25 points behind Ryan Briscoe and while both Scott and I knew we were still in it, Ryan had to make a mistake. But we all made mistakes this year. We all had bad pit stops and got lucky and unlucky in strategy. It was just part of the roller-coaster, man - I didn't get too up or too down with it. I tried to stay balanced throughout the year.

Coming back from Japan, I did the ALMS race for Patron and tested at Indy and at Homestead so I was able to get my mind off the last race of the season.

So when we got to Homestead, I was five points behind Scott and only three ahead of Ryan. We won the pole at Homestead but the car wasn't fast at the start. We improved the car so much in the race -- the track came to the car and the car came to the track. Had we bunched up under yellow, I would have had more fuel than them anyway and we could have given them a run for their money, but we'll never know.

When I won the championship in 2007, there were still two series, but this year it was one unified series and I got to race against everybody. That made it very special. The competition level is higher than it has ever been because everybody is under one roof now so it's great. It's extra special.

And while people want to put me in the same category as other great drivers from Scotland - Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart - as well as Graham Hill from England, I see those guys on a different level.

I'm just happy that I get to do what I get to do.