Franchitti hopeful of speedy return

The Scot is attending the race at Richmond to remain in close contact with his team. He has been walking without crutches already and says that given the nature of his injury it won't be long before he is able to drive again.

"I feel good," Franchitti said at Richmond International Raceway. "I've been walking around it without the crutches since Monday I guess. I went to see the doctors the same day and they told me exactly what's wrong with it.

"I'm very lucky the fact, there's a lot of bruising and stuff but there's no displacement and there's a very small fracture so we should be good to get back in the car pretty quick."

Franchitti says there is no fixed date yet for his return and believes it will all depend on how quickly he feels comfortable when applying pressure on his left ankle, which he needs at least to shift gears when leaving or entering the pits.

"It's really going to be up to me at this point when I feel comfortable getting back in the car," Franchitti said about when he expects to be back racing. "I'm going to talk to the guys on the team today and we'll see about that. I would say pretty soon.

"I have a carbon-fibre brace that I'm getting made back in Indy. I've got to go back there Monday and have that fitted so hopefully soon we'll be back in. Really, I think it's going to be about comfort and how hard I can push the pedal."

Franchitti confirmed he would continue to race in the Nationwide Series once he returns to drive in Sprint Cup.

NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader was replacing him at Richmond this weekend but failed to qualify for the race, while Sterling Marlin is expected to fill in for him next week at Darlington Raceway.