Franchitti makes strong start in test

The Scot ran the third-fastest lap of the morning session on Monday at Daytona, and was the fastest Dodge runner all day in the single-car runs. Only Franchitti and Dale Earnhardt Jr were able to split the Toyotas on the first day of running.

Franchitti is happy with the way testing is going for him, but anticipates that the biggest part of the learning process will come when he starts running in the draft for the first time at the 2.5-mile oval, which will give him a feel for what his first Cup race will be like in February.

"The first day out was good," Franchitti said. "The car feels very good and it's driving well. With the single car runs there is not too much that we can do. When we start drafting that is when I'm going to start learning more.

"That is what I'm looking forward to and at the same time I'm kind of nervous about at the same time. That's when the learning really starts."

The current IRL IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 champion is a leading candidate for the rookie of the year honours in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, where he is likely to have a stiff contest with other former open-wheel drivers such as Patrick Carpentier and Sam Hornish Jr.

However, Franchitti says he is not focusing too much on how the other rookies are doing, but concentrating more on his own progress relative to teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Reed Sorenson, who both tested last week at Daytona.

"At this point, I'm only worried about how the year is going to go for me," Franchitti added. "I'm sure those other guys are going to take care of themselves. It is going to be interesting. It's going to be hard and a very difficult challenge.

"I think we did some good testing in Cup. We struggled a little bit in the Nationwide car and had some problems but we learned a lot. I felt very comfortable in the Sprint Cup car."

Franchitti will continue testing his Cup car at Daytona until Wednesday, before switching to his Nationwide machine. He will follow that with the Rolex 24 Grand-Am sportscar race next week.