OCTOBER 31, 2007

A sign of the times

Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti has moved to NASCAR in the United States and will be replaced at Andretti Green Racing by Japan's Hideki Mutoh, who is funded by Aguri Suzuki's operations. Mutoh finished second in the Indy Pro Series this year, but a long way behind Alex Lloyd. Mutoh won two races and later made his IRL debut with Panther Racing.

Mutoh will join Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick at Andretti Green Racing but his recruitment will be seen as a sign that even the strongest IRL teams are now looking for money.