Dario Franchitti’s return to IndyCar racing couldn’t have gone better. He’s the IRL champion once again. “I still can’t believe it,“ said Franchitti, the scent of champagne obvious on his soaked racesuit an hour after the checkered flag came out in his honor. “Really, I can’t.“ Franchitti successfully emerged from one of the closest points races in series history yesterday, winning the season-ending Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the first caution-free IRL race ever.

MOTEGI, Japan—Target Chip Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti head into the final IndyCar race of the season in a go-for-broke showdown. Things are a little more complicated for Ryan Briscoe after a mishap in the Indy Japan 300 dropped the Team Penske driver to third place in the standings. Dixon, the 2008 champion, won the next-to-last race of the season in Japan to move into first place in the standings ahead of Franchitti and Briscoe.

In 2007, Juan Pablo Montoya was on his way to a rookie-of-the year season in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup competition. But he arrived in Richmond so far out of the Race for the Chase, he couldn’t have gotten into it if he’d zoomed around Richmond International Raceway on the Concord. Last year, he arrived in Richmond even further back in the points standings.

JOLIET, Ill.—When drivers talk about the ups and downs of life in racing, they don’t use phrases such as “lowest low” lightly—not with real danger lurking around every turn. So when viewed in the proper context, spending last year spinning his wheels in NASCAR isn’t a big deal to Dario Franchitti. “I’ve had, certainly, worse times in racing, losing friends and things like that,“ Franchitti said. “Compared to that, last year was a walk in the park.“

No one is expecting defending champion Tony Kanaan to win tonight’s SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway. He’s still nursing the physical and psychological wounds of a horrific crash during the Indianapolis 500 last month. And he’ll start from the 17th position on the 20-car grid, an unenviable spot on a racetrack where passing is often a monumental challenge.

Dario Franchitti, who won the SunTrust Indy Challenge in 2007, said unlike in NASCAR, IndyCar Series drivers are really teammates. He and Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon worked together yesterday during practice in an effort to share valuable information that will give them an edge in tonight’s race. However, Franchitti acknowledges he’s prepared to draw the line. But he’ll stop short of taking out his teammate with the checkered flag within site.

Dario Franchitti was determined to prove he could challenge NASCAR’s elite after winning both the 2007 Indianapolis 500 and the Indy Racing League championship. Instead, he struggled mightily during an awkward transition from open-wheel to stock-car racing. He wasn’t exactly a fish out of water, but the Scotsman swam upstream most every weekend.