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IRL: Wheldon says he’s having too much fun for NASCAR

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By Andy Darley

Friday, June 27th, 2008

 

Dan Wheldon, thought last season to be hoping for a switch to Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR program, has changed his mind and wants to stay in the IRL.

The Englishman, who won the last race at Iowa despite running in the spare car after a crash in practice, says the post-merger series is much more fun to compete in following the influx of ex-Champ Car drivers.

He is quoted in the Richmond Times-Despatch as saying: “Up until this year, I really did consider NASCAR and the reason I did is I’m a driver. I like to be on track and I like the fact they race so much.

“But with the merging together of both open-wheel series, the series is really fun to drive in right now. When you have more cars like that, it’s definitely fun to drive.”

He said the IRL’s plans to expand the schedule and allow more testing during the season were positive signs.

Wheldon is in the final year of his contract with Ganassi and says he has discussed an extension with the team: “I definitely think I will be in IndyCars for certainly the next three years after this one.”

Related posts:

• IRL: Wheldon’s NASCAR hopes may be frustrated
• IndyCar: Wheldon loses NASCAR seat to Franchitti
• Sponsorship woes kill off Franchitti’s NASCAR season
• IRL: Wheldon out, Franchitti in at Ganassi for 2009
• Driveless Franchitti can take his pick of American racing series

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 7:58 pm and is filed under IndyCar Series. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Author: Andy Darley. Ex-journalist, fan of David Coulthard and anyone who ever drove or tested for Minardi and didn't say rude things about the team afterwards. Owns a Triumph Spitfire and hopes that, one day, it'll be on the road again. Andy has written 607 articles for us.