Angry Franchitti ‘totally screwed’ by Andretti

Dario Franchitti raced hard yesterday — and had blisters on his palms to prove it. However, the series points leader heading into the Edmonton Rexall Indy had trouble keeping up with the leaders and finished fifth. The result knocked him out of top spot in the points standings, slipping behind Scott Dixon, who finished third behind Helio Castroneves and winner Will Power.

"It was a long day," Franchitti said. "I didn't expect it to go green flag the whole way. I thought the car was good at the start with the red tires, I was able to hang with the leaders. But it wasn't so good with the black.

"We just never found a balance we were comfortable with all weekend. I think Scott found something he was happy with, but we could never find something I was totally happy with."

"I was totally screwed by Marco when he was a lap down," Franchitti said. I don't know what he was up to. I didn't appreciate that."

"We didn't have anything for the guys in front and we were somewhat ahead of the guys behind," Franchitti said. "At points it was a pretty lonely race, but I pushed every lap."

This was the first time the native of Edinburgh, Scotland, who is married to actress Ashley Judd, has raced in Edmonton. Last season he was racing stock cars.

"It's always fun to come and race in Canada," he said. "There are always full stands, everybody is cheering — it was a good day.

" It was very physical out there, the G-forces are pretty extreme. I think it's probably the most difficult track I've ever been on. It's slightly more physical than Cleveland. It was a hard one out there."

"The track's not bad, it needs a couple of little things," Franchitti said. "But anywhere you can come and race in front of packed stands and excited fans like this is pretty cool."