Franchitti is fast but frustrated

The Team Green driver started 11th, reflecting his championship standing coming in to the race. But he dropped to 18th place in the aftermath of the first turn collision between Helio Castroneves and Cristiano da Matta.

Franchitti stated after the race that he believed many of the positions he lost were under yellow flag conditions. He expressed his concerns to CART Chief Steward Chris Kneifel, but no penalties were assessed.

"After the accident on the first lap there was debris everywhere. There were pretty big pieces of carbon hitting the sides and front of the car, I was backing off and six or seven guys passed me, and the only one who was legitimate was (Nicolas) Minassian," Franchitti said.

"This isn't the first time I believe the officials have missed a call," he added. "It basically cost me the race last year in Portland. We just need more consistency."

Adding insult to injury, Franchitti pitted in a strategic move to top off his fuel. But he stalled the engine and lost a lap to the leaders - hence the furious comeback drive, which resulted in the fastest lap of the race at 159.608 mph.

"Disappointed is the first word that comes to mind," Franchitti stated. "We had one small problem when I stalled leaving the pits and that was because we forgot to reset the rev limiter and I was on hot tyres. It's the same thing that happened to me last year when I was leading at Vancouver.

"It was fun to come through the field but it wasn't for the result we hoped for."