BROOKLYN, Mich. (Aug. 5, 2007) - Canadian Club driver Dario Franchitti finished 13th Sunday in the Firestone Indy 400 due to a terrifying late-race incident that sent the Canadian Club car airborne. Despite this being Franchitti's first DNF of the season, he still leads the IndyCar Series championship by 24 points over second place.

Franchitti started off the day leading the first 48 laps of the 200-lap race before a long pit stop forced him to the back of the field. In just seven laps, Franchitti skillfully weaved in and out of traffic past 16 cars to put himself into second position behind Scott Dixon. Franchitti regained the lead on the third pit stop of the day when he took fuel only. Franchitti continued to dominate the race for several laps until the fourth yellow came out. During the pit stop rotation, Dan Wheldon took over the lead and put Franchitti back into second. Franchitti battled Wheldon and Tomas Scheckter for several laps until he was caught up in a multicar incident on lap 143. Despite landing upside down, Franchitti walked away from the incident uninjured.

Andretti Green Racing driver Tony Kanaan captured his third win of the season and was followed closely across the finish line by teammate Marco Andretti. Scott Sharp rounded out the top three in third.

Next up for the IndyCar Series is the Meijer Indy 300 presented by Coca-Cola at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 11. ESPN2 will provide live coverage of the event at 6:30 p.m. (EDT). The race can also be heard live on XM Satellite Radio channel 145.

Dario Franchitti, #27 Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone
“When I went upside down, I thought that was it, but then I hit (Scott) Dixon on the way down. I have to thank Scott because he definitely softened the blow. I talked to Dan (Wheldon) about it and he bobbed when I weaved and we just got together. I do want to see the replay of it though. I had a really fast car today. The Canadian Club car was really good and we had a good shot at a win today.”

John Anderson, Race Strategist, #27 Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
"Today was just unbelievable. It was the best I've ever seen Dario drive. He was going high, low and in between cars. It didn't matter. It was just a disappointing end to what could have been a great day. We weren't very confident going in here because our past history wasn't all that great, but the crew proved today that they had a good handle on it. Now we are really looking forward to heading to Kentucky."