Franchitti to miss Lowe's Cup round

Dario Franchitti will not compete in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway next weekend as he continues to recover from a left ankle injury, Chip Ganassi said on Saturday

Diego Mejía May 17, 2008, 9:02 PM

The NASCAR Sprint Cup rookie was initially expected to be back behind the wheel next week having already had four weeks out of the car, but his team boss has confirmed that Sterling Marlin will be replacing him in the No. 40 car once again.

"It's the same old thing you know, drivers all think they're not that hurt when they get hurt and they say 'yeah, I'll be back in a week or two,'" Ganassi said.

"So we all kind of said 'yeah, you know he'll be back in a week or two'. But I think he's starting to realise now that it's not going to be that quick.

"It looks like Sterling Marlin is going to be driving the car here next weekend in the 600. So we're sort of taking it a day at a time after that. Whether it's with the Pocono test or the Dover race, it's all a day at a time right now."

The Scot is currently planning taking part in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test at Pocono Raceway on 27-28 May, before attempting to compete at Dover a few days following the test.