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Source: Franchitti will join NASCAR

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From the Associated Press

Dario Franchitti will become the latest open-wheel star to make the jump to NASCAR.

A source close to the negotiations said Franchitti will sign with Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the No. 40 Dodge beginning in 2008. David Stremme, the current driver of the No. 40, already has been told he will not have the ride next year.

The source, who asked to not be identified because details of the agreement have not been finalized, said Ganassi and Franchitti decided to make the announcement after the end of the IndyCar Series schedule, which ends with today’s PEAK Antifreeze 300 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

He will join Juan Pablo Montoya, another former open-wheel star, a heralded rookie with Ganassi’s NASCAR Nextel Cup team this season. Franchitti and Montoya tied for the CART (now Champ Car) series points lead in 1999, with the Colombian driver winning the title on a tiebreaker -- four more wins.

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“Right now, all I want to concentrate on is winning this championship and then winning the [Grand Am Sports Car Series] championship next week in Utah,” Ganassi said Saturday. “All this other stuff can wait until after that.”

Franchitti also declined to talk about the future, saying, “I’m trying to win a championship here, and that’s all I want to talk about.”

Speculation on the 34-year-old Franchitti’s racing future began in May after he won the Indianapolis 500 for the first time. The Scotsman works on one-year contracts, so he would become a free agent Dec. 1.

Although he has gotten along well with his teammates, there has been some recent friction with team co-owner Michael Andretti after Franchitti and Andretti’s son, Marco, crashed late in the race last month in Sonoma, costing Franchitti a shot at a win and, at that point, the series lead.

Franchitti said he and the elder Andretti “talked things out” at a dinner last week in Detroit.

It is expected that Franchitti, who has yet to drive a stock car of any kind, will get a quick course in the sport from Ganassi, who plans, according to the source, to enter him in a series of ARCA and NASCAR Busch Series races to get him up to speed.

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Franchitti goes into today’s race with a three-point lead over Ganassi driver Scott Dixon in the battle for the series title.

The Scotsman turned a fast lap of 214.646 mph to win his third pole of the year. Dixon was sixth at 214.217.

Franchitti, the third of 22 drivers to make qualifying attempts on the 1.5-mile oval, said he slowed down from practice earlier in the day.

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