Wheldon wants out of the IRL

Dan Wheldon recently had a beauty makeover by his dentist making him look 'pretty' which would not go over too well with the NASCAR crowd by Shawn Payne

Dan Wheldon might be driving in the Sprint Cup Series this season instead of Dario Franchitti had team owner Chip Ganassi let him.

Wheldon said on Monday he had several conversations with Ganassi about making the jump this year from the IndyCar Series, which he won in 2005, to NASCAR.

"I talked to Chip enough about it to know that for whatever reason he didn't want to let me move from the Indy car,'' Wheldon said on the first day of the 2008 Sprint Cup media tour. "He definitely wants to keep me [in the IndyCar Series]. We'll see.

"I've got some big decisions to make at the end of next season. The main thing is I need to put myself in a strong position so I can make the decision I want to make.''

Wheldon said funding will be a factor.

"Obviously with the economy the way it is, it's very difficult to get, particularly with how expensive NASCAR is right now and the way Chip likes to do it,'' he said. "You've got to have good funding. I'm not sure he has a hundred percent as much as he would like to do it properly.

"At this point I'm just going to worry about the Indy cars.'' ESPN.com