Franchitti says IndyCar return unlikely

The 35-year-old is currently considering his options after series following Chip Ganassi Racing's decision to shut down the operation of the No.40 car he was driving.

if that was what he wanted, but in an interview with the , Franchitti said he wouldn't like to end his stock car career only halfway through his debut season and expects to get another opportunity to succeed.

"Let's see what the future holds," he said. "I need to sit down with Chip and see where his head is, but NASCAR is where I want to be. I want to be successful here and I certainly don't want it to end like this.

"I made a big commitment coming over here and I'd like to get an opportunity to be successful."

Franchitti doesn't regret ditching his career in the IndyCar Series, which he left after winning the championship and the Indianapolis 500 last season, in favour of a switch to NASCAR. Although he didn't rule out an eventual return to the series, he said he is unlikely to go back.

"When I made the decision to come here (to NASCAR), I wasn't going to do the IndyCar thing anymore anyway, so this isn't a case of missing out on what could have been in IndyCar," he said. "That just wasn't a direction I wanted to go in.

"Never say never, but it's unlikely I'll go back."

Despite the poor results from his first 17 races in the Sprint Cup, where his best finish was the 22nd place he claimed at Martinsville, Franchitti says he and his team were making good progress and were running better every week.

"We definitely struggled in the first couple of races, but we were getting there," Franchitti said. "The results have been this and that, but I really feel like we were getting there.

"We were starting to run well, me and the No.40 guys all thought things were turning around."

Franchitti's plans for the rest of the season could be unveiled next week.