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Dodge welcome Franchitti's arrival

Dodge officials have welcomed the arrival of IRL and Indy 500 champion Dario Franchitti to their pool of drivers, following the announcement that the Scot will join Chip Ganassi Racing

For the second year in a row, Dodge will see an Indy 500 champion join their ranks after last year Juan Pablo Montoya signed with Chip Ganassi, having raced previously for parent company Mercedes-Benz in Formula One while driving for McLaren.

"We are elated that Dario Franchitti will be joining the Dodge Motorsports family and competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2008," said Mike Accavitti, Director of the Dodge Brand and SRT Marketing and Communications.

"Chip Ganassi has succeeded in pulling off another motorsports coup, bringing the defending Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion to NASCAR to drive the No. 40 Dodge Avenger for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates."

Frachitti has been a Honda driver for many years since he joined Team Kool Green in 1998 for his second season in Champ Cars. He then moved to the IRL with Andretti Green also with Honda in 2003, and took the series title with them this year.

"Dario is a tremendously talented driver," added Accavitti. "He has been very successful in open wheel racing and we are confident that he can effectively make the transition to stock cars. We're also excited about the visibility for the Dodge brand in the international community that the Scottish-born driver brings."

"We share common goals with all drivers and teams in the Dodge family - win races and compete for the championship. We welcome Dario and look forward to working toward our mutual goals."

Formerly Franchitti had been a Mercedes-Benz driver when he drove in the ITC for the German brand in 1995 and 1996, before switching to Champ Cars where he drove a Mercedes-Benz engined entry for Hogan Racing in 1997.

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