Ferrucci & Franchitti: From the Dirt to Dubai

Today’s theme music: “Back in the Mud” by Bubba Sparxxx

As of this writing, we’re just days away from the 24 Hours of Daytona, which should be another star-studded affair flush with IndyCar talent looking to pick up sports car accolades on the side. However, two other drivers, one current and one all-time legend, didn’t want to wait that long to get the party started. So this week, we’ll dig into two excursions in two wildly different disciplines on opposite sides of the world, each one valiant in its own way.

Ferrucci makes a Chili Bowl

First, in a weeklong affair on a fifth of a mile of dirt, Santino Ferrucci made his annual pilgrimage to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Chili Bowl Nationals, the Indianapolis 500 of midget car racing.

As usual, Ferrucci slotted in alongside multiple NASCAR drivers as the headlining stars of the weekend. Reigning Chili Bowl and NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson was here looking for his fourth title at the event, while Christopher Bell sought his first Chili Bowl crown since his threepeat to close the 2010s. Ferrucci started Friday extremely strong, honoring his boss A.J. Foyt’s birthday with a win from pole to win his eight-lap heat. However, a P3 start in the fourth of four qualifiers turned into a 9th-place finish, forcing him to start 9th in his B-Feature. That, in turn, ended early when he DNF’d with engine issues.

That didn’t end Ferrucci’s weekend, but it did mean he’d have to start Saturday in the J-Feature and try to survive the alphabet soup. Though he scored another podium to start his day and grabbed the last transfer spot in the next round, the H-Feature would prove his downfall, just as it was last year. Still, it was an overall much stronger run this time around than the flippy-dippy antics he got up to in his previous attempt.

Franchitti returns at Dubai

Over twelve years after the crash that forced his retirement from racing, four-time National Champion and three-time Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti shocked the world by making his grand return at the Dubai 24 Hour.

The legendary Scotsman headlined an all-British lineup in the Parker #31 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, teaming up with father-son tandem Shaun and Alex Lynn and touring car world champion Robert Huff. With no team presence in either of the prior 24H Series Middle East races, the crew could eschew points racing and gun strictly for the GT3 Pro-Am victory.

However, that wouldn’t be in the cards for the team. A rough qualifying forced the #31 to start second-to-last among all GT3 cars, and the race itself was more a battle of survival than anything, especially when suspension problems reared their head and forced the car in for repairs. Franchitti and company would ultimately finish 9th in class, 44th out of 66 overall, dozens of laps behind the class-winning Herberth #10 Porsche, and even behind the class winners in the touring car categories. However, the result is secondary to the mere achievement of Dario’s first big-league drive in over a decade. The goodbye he got in IndyCar was far more brutal than he deserved, so to see him come back for a day and rewrite his final chapter is certainly a feel-good moment.