Ashley declares Dario a "legend"

[SarahFan]

Discuss

[garyshell]

Well he did join the three winners club. That would make him legendary at least, but a legend? Maybe if he gets four.

Gary

[garyshell]

BTW I felt gutted for Sarah today. Her boy looked DAMN good.

Gary

[heliocastroneves#3]

I think he is one, well... Sort of.. Honestly I thought for sometime, Dario's successful time would be over. Luckily I'm wrong! I'd agree with Ashley, Dario is one of the greatest and is a great guy..

[Lousada]

If Ashley says so it must be true. She gets more TV-time than 1/2 the Indycar grid so she must be an expert.

[neophyte]

She's his wife....nuff said.
In all seriousness, I've never liked the guy ever since his CART days, so I'm biased. He's won 3 I500's but IMHO only this one counts, let's see what he's able to do in the next 2-3 years.

[Eagledale Fan Since 1966]

She's his wife....nuff said.
In all seriousness, I've never liked the guy ever since his CART days, so I'm biased. He's won 3 I500's but IMHO only this one counts, let's see what he's able to do in the next 2-3 years.

The previous one was Rain shortened. It counts, but not legendary. This one is just a continuation of his dirty driving...he punts Will last year, he pinches Newgarden in Long Beach and he pinches Takuma down below the white line...all the while saying he "moved up" to give him room...he is charming and thus gets away with it....F1 driver stewards would take this win away in my opinion.

[00steven]

He is.

[Chris R]

Of course he is legendary. I was going through it in my head yesterday and of all the three time winners (not 4 time) - he actually has the most complete resume. He has the most championships of all three time winners - Louis Meyer has 3, everyone else one or two. Only Uncle Bobby has more total Indycar wins among 3 time winners and that is only 35 (which I expect Dario will surpass by the time his career is over as he is at 30 or 31 now). He has more wins than Mears and only 7 or 8 less that Al Senior. He has no more shadows hanging over his wins than anyone else - Bobby and Rutherford both won rain shortened races; Bobby had a very controversial "win" in 1981; Helio had controversy on 2002; Mauri Rose snooker Bill Holland for one of his wins and shared another with Floyd Davis.

Like him or not, he has had an impressive career. He is a great driver who uses all of the tools at his disposal to win more or less fair and square. Face it, when it comes to "dirty driving" he is not even close to the masters of dirty driving - Senna, Schumacher, and Earnhardt - all of whom are widely celebrated for driving dirty........ Frankly, I think he is a tough & smart competitor who understands the rules under which he competes and gets the job done without a lot of flash....

[F1boat]

So many championships and now three Indy 500 wins, yes, he is definitely a legend.

[wedge]

Yeah, I think he is legend. He's the consummate all round driver which you have to be in Indycar.

[Eagledale Fan Since 1966]

He was a mid packer in Cart. He joined the IRL with a premier team during mostly oval racing where the car has been the difference. The past few years he has been smoked by Will and his teammate on road courses (the true test of driver talent)...his first race win was awful luck...TK dominated and he wins with a pit strategy in a rain shortened race...2010...its all car and the best team wins...this year he is a bully and pinches TK in a Honda whose Turbo is updated to "bridge" competition....Honda sandbagged during practice and qualifications and played poker and snookered IndyCar during the most important race of the year....watch this week while Will and others wax him on the road courses.

[SarahFan]

Mid-packer in CART?

[garyshell]

Mid-packer in CART?


I thought that was pretty funny too.

Gary

[maxmach]

I think He is on his way to being a "legend". Not because Ashly said it, because of his record. That speaks volumes, legendary volumes. He lives a rock star life, movie star wife, big houses, castles, flys helicopters, good looking, speaks well..... I think there might be just a bit of envy going around..... Is his wife annoying, of course, she's an actress.....they emote. Anyway, he is not my fav.driver, but son of a b, He represents the sport very well, comes across on TV as fair and knowlegable, can actuallly put two sentences together coherently. And He's won 4 championships and 3 Indys, you don't do that by being a goody two shoes, He's a tough but mostly fair racer. And every single driver, every last one, would have done the same thing on the last lap of the 500.

[wedge]

He was a mid packer in Cart.

Started off at Carl Hogan's team. Jumps to Barry Green's team not on merit but because they want a mid-packer to driver their car.

Dario is so much of a mid-packer that he's tied on points with JPM and thus loses the championship by a whisker.


The past few years he has been smoked by Will and his teammate on road courses (the true test of driver talent)...

Dario is better on ovals, Power is weaker on ovals. Dario is the better all rounder.

[nigelred5]

Tied for a CART championship is one of the most talented collections of drivers in in Indycars ever. Mid-packer... OK LOL

30+ wins, 4 series championships, 3 Indy 500's and he's 39. Despite comments after the events last fall, I still don't see him retiring any time soon. Is he a legend? WILL he be a legend? to me, legends become legends once they retire. He's married to Ashley Judd. He's already a legend in my book. He will be a Racing legend.

[00steven]

He was a mid packer in Cart. He joined the IRL with a premier team during mostly oval racing where the car has been the difference. The past few years he has been smoked by Will and his teammate on road courses (the true test of driver talent)...his first race win was awful luck...TK dominated and he wins with a pit strategy in a rain shortened race...2010...its all car and the best team wins...this year he is a bully and pinches TK in a Honda whose Turbo is updated to "bridge" competition....Honda sandbagged during practice and qualifications and played poker and snookered IndyCar during the most important race of the year....watch this week while Will and others wax him on the road courses.

Asinine

[jarrambide]

Started off at Carl Hogan's team. Jumps to Barry Green's team not on merit but because they want a mid-packer to driver their car.




.

Didn't Franchitti outperform his teammate (Paul Tracy) in 4 of the 5 years they raced together for Team Kool Green?, Hardly a mid-packer, not to mention the weird logic of a team owner wanting a mid-packer, I can see settling for a driver that brings money, but actually looking for a mid-packer?, How does that work?

[ShiftingGears]

Didn't Franchitti outperform his teammate (Paul Tracy) in 4 of the 5 years they raced together for Team Kool Green?, Hardly a mid-packer, not to mention the weird logic of a team owner wanting a mid-packer, I can see settling for a driver that brings money, but actually looking for a mid-packer?, How does that work?

He was being sarcastic.

[TheCountessZ]

Let's just call him a "yellow legend". :)

[Mark in Oshawa]

He has done it. Unlike some people who are all hype and no results, Franchitti has championships and has been at the front 3 times at Indy when they tossed the checkers. Talk about rain shortened results all you like, he had the sense of urgency to be at the front when the rain fell. He has done pretty much everything one can do in the sport and done it in a way where despite all the whinging, he is still well liked and speaks for the drivers. Will Power is a great driver, awe inspiring fast on the road and street courses, but Dario is a champ because he can win anywhere.....and it is that reason why most people like Indycar. You cant be the champ if you cant win on different types of tracks, or at least be competitive.

[Mark in Oshawa]

OH ya...if one more person tells me how he pinched Sato, I will be giving them an eyeglass prescription. He gave Sato a lot more room than I would have. He was about 4 feet away from being on the marbles himself. The guy doing the passing is responsible for creating the situation, and if you watch, Sato's rear end breaks free before the car even touchs the white paint. Dario never touched him, Sato put himself in a situation that wasn't going to work. If Sato had Dario's sense of strategy, he would have stayed behind Dario and took him down the back stretch, eliminating any chance of Dario repassing him (as he surely would have if Sato had managed to get by). That is why Sato has no wins and a lot of wrecked race cars and Dario has brick dust on his lips. Sato lost that race....and Dario isn't responsible for his stupidity. He cant hand the race to the guy on a platter...

[00steven]

Good thoughts Mark.