Season setup: Don't overlook Herta, Franchitti as contenders

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Kim Green’s comments were just what Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta wanted to hear.

“Both Bryan and Dario have every intention of being good teammates, but they intend on knocking Tony (Kanaan) and Dan (Wheldon) off the top spot,” the Andretti Green Racing co-owner said.

Thanks for the confidence boost, boss. Will it be difficult to supplant the reigning IndyCar Series champion and runner-up? No doubt. Is it doable? Certainly. Franchitti, with two victories and eight top-10 finishes, was sixth in points last season. Herta, who had 10 top-10 finishes, was ninth.

They’ve already served notice to the entire IndyCar Series field that they’ll be a force on the ovals and the series’ venture into road- and street-course racing. In testing at the 1-mile Phoenix International Raceway two weeks ago, Franchitti topped the overall speed chart in the No. 27 ArcaEx Dallara/Honda/Firestone. Herta was seventh in the No. 7 XM Satellite Radio entry. And both are champing at the bit to turn right.

Franchitti, who returned to the series after back surgery limited his participation in 2003 to three events, placed in the top 10 in half of the 16 events and led six races but witnessed additional opportunities slide away.

“We’ve worked to correct some problems and I think we’re ready,” said Franchitti, whose two victories in 20 IndyCar Series starts came on 1-mile ovals.

Herta had a high finish of second and led four races for a total of 67 laps in his first full season with AGR.

“I’m back with the same group of people this year on the No. 7 XM Satellite Radio car and I expect that we’ll be able to build on the experience that we had from last year working together and that we’ll be regular competitors for wins,” said Herta, who had one victory in 11 events in 2003 for Andretti Green Racing as the substitute for the injured Franchitti. “Hopefully, each race day my teammates and I can fight each other for the win.”

Capsule look at Andretti Green Racing

Team owners: Michael Andretti, Kim Green, Kevin Savoree
Car numbers: 7 (Herta), 11 (Kanaan), 26 (Wheldon), 27 (Franchitti)
Chassis/engine/tires: Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Team managers: John Anderson, George Klotz
Chief engineers: 7 (Martin Pare), 11 (Eric Cowdin), 26 (Eddie Jones), 27 (Allen McDonald)

Co-owner Kim Green’s viewpoint

About Herta: “We are really striving to help Bryan get a win this season. He was such a good teammate last year in working with the other three drivers and all the engineers to get the best possible race cars each weekend. During the season he also became Honda Performance Development’s key driver for feedback on the engine which helped all the Honda drivers. We expect more of the same from him because he is the ultimate team member that you could hope for.”

About Franchitti: “He proved he can win and became a master on short-oval tracks. Dario always has been a very key contributor to helping develop car setups. Going forward, I see Dario being more determined now that he’s competed on every circuit that the IRL runs, a much better familiarity with the series and the race cars and the needs of the race cars. I think he’s going to be a title contender in 2005.”