JULY 23, 2001

Franchitti sneaking up on CART title

DARIO FRANCHITTI may not have won many races this year but he is now just three points behind Kenny Brack in the CART Championship.

DARIO FRANCHITTI may not have won many races this year but he is now just three points behind Kenny Brack in the CART Championship. Franchitti finished second in last weekend's Harrah's 500 at Michigan International Speedway, being edged out by Patrick Carpentier after the Canadian was given a last dash tow from his team mate Alex Tagliani, who was a lap behind. Carpentier and Franchitti were separated by just 0.243secs at the finish.

Franchitti, who finished second in the 1999 CART series to Juan Pablo Montoya wants to switch to Formula 1 next year when his contract with Team Kool Green runs out. The problem for the Scotsman is that there are no obvious job vacancies, despite rumors that there might be a job available at Jaguar Racing. Winning the CART title would give Franchitti his best chance in F1 as taking the CART title-winner would be a bonus for F1 and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone would be sure to help Franchitti find a job.

It was a bad day for Brack who crashed out after a collision with his team mate Max Papis.