"I put myself under a lot of pressure": When Dario Franchitti shifted from racing to mentoring IndyCar champions

Former IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti retired from the open wheel racing at the end of the 2013 season. The Scottish driver was involved in a serious accident during the penultimate race of the 2013 season which led to a concussion and broken right ankle, left ankle, pelvis, spine, ribs, sternum, and fingers. Franchitti moved into a mentorship role after his retirement.

Dario Franchitti was interviewed by the New York Times before the start of the 2014 IndyCar season. The Scottish driver had been giving away his secrets and mentoring fellow IndyCar drivers Josef Newgarden and Tony Kanaan. It was Kannan who filled in Franchitti's #10 car at Chip Ganassi Racing.

Dario Franchitti at the 101st Indianapolis 500 - Carb Day - Source: Getty

Speaking about the mentorship role, Franchitti said:

“I’m sort of giving away the secrets that even when we were teammates I kept some of them back. T.K. (Tony Kanaan) got a few of my secrets and Dixon I gave most of them to. But I kept some of them back, but now I just give them all to the boys.”

Talking about how the retirement followed by the mentorship role has taken the stress-related issues away from his life, he added:

“I put myself under a lot of pressure when I was racing, all the time. I would be sitting here thinking about the race this weekend and what I had to do and how we’re going to do it, and what the issues were with the car, how we were going to sort those and on and on and on. That’s not part of things anymore. That’s good. That’s a real positive.”

After retirement, Dario Franchitti became a driver coach and advisor at Chip Ganassi Racing. The Scottish driver joined CGR in 2008 and retired from the sport after 6 successful years with the team which included three consecutive IndyCar championships.

Zak Brown recalls when he raced Dario Franchitti in Formula 3

McLaren CEO Zak Brown was featured on the Red Flags podcast on December 4, 2024, alongside Guenther Steiner. Brown talked about the racing events that he participated in and brought up the F3 race from 1994 where he raced alongside Dario Franchitti. The Scottish driver raced for Paul Stewart Racing in Class A whereas Brown raced in the lower Class B. Zak Brown recalled:

“I remember, in Formula 3, Dario won the first race of the year, and (Jan) Magnussen won like the next 15. And I remember Dario coming in... he was buddies with my teammate, and going, 'My career's over. This guy's destroyed me.' However, it turned out pretty good for Dario.” [8:22 onwards]

Dario Franchitti won four championships, and 31 races, and stood on the podium 91 times during his 265-race-long IndyCar (initially Champ Car) career which lasted 17 years.