Press Release

HOMETOWN FRANCHITTI MAKES A SPLASH

Release date: July 18, 2005
Contact: By Ed Atla
Sports Correspondent Nashville City Paper

GLADEVILLE - On a night his Andretti Green Racing teammates would like to forget, Dario Franchitti won a race he’ll always remember.

The Leiper’s Fork driver won the third IndyCar Series race of his career, and his first at Nashville Superspeedway, by dodging raindrops and making a late-lap pass in the Firestone Indy 200.

Franchitti blew past Patrick Carpentier with six laps to go and went on to win by 1.3 seconds over Sam Hornish Jr. Carpentier settled for third with Scott Sharp and Helio Castroneves rounding out the top five.

Rookie star Danica Patrick finished seventh and led nine laps in the second half of the race.

Franchitti, whose Arca/Ex car was among the fastest all night, was gaining on Carpentier when the race was yellow-flagged with 24 laps to go. But rain began to fall during the caution period and the race was in danger of ending that way.

“I thought, ‘If this cloud breaks and we lose the race because of rain it will sum up our year,’” Franchitti said.

But the cloud held and the race returned to green with 10 to go, setting up Franchitti’s first win of the season.

It would have been a gut-wrenching way for the day to end after his AGR teammates - series leader Dan Wheldon, last year’s race winner Tony Kanaan, and Bryan Herta - all made early exits with wheel-bearing problems. But all three gathered in Franchitti’s pit to cheer their teammate over the waning laps.

“Dario has had the toughest luck of anyone on the team,” AGR owner Michael Andretti said. “It is so nice to see him do it with a great drive and a great pass.”

Carpentier prayed for rain but to no avail.

“I kept saying (on the radio), ‘It’s raining very bad on the backstretch,’” Carpentier joked. “But I’m glad we got back to green. I saw Dario coming like a train and he just went by me.”

Franchitti was mobbed by teammates, friends and family after the race and received a Gatorade bath from Kanaan.

“I’ll get him back, believe me,” Franchitti said. “Next time he’s in Victory Lane, I’ll have to try and rig a crane or something, throw about a hundred gallons on his head.

“But that’s why you do this - to win races. To win as a team is such a good feeling, to see your guys there smiling … that’s what it’s all about. To do it at my home race now … is extra special.”

One high-profile member of the Franchitti family was not on hand. His wife, actress Ashley Judd, was working in New Orleans.

“Knowing Ashley, she watched it on television, had the computer going, watching the lap times,” Franchitti said. “We’ll dissect the race later on. It’s cool she is so involved with it and she knows so much about it.”

For the transplanted Scot, there was nothing quite like winning on his hometown track.

“Scotland will always be home and nothing will change that,” he said. “But this is where I spend most of my year. I enjoy Nashville and being part of the community.”

And now, like a true Nashvillian, Franchitti owns a Gibson Les Paul guitar, the coveted trophy awarded to NSS race winners.

“I’ll call Wy (Wynona Judd) for some lessons,” said Franchitti. “I could definitely do with learning. My brother is racing in California at the ALMS race. I hear he’s pretty excited about the prospect of the guitar because he’s been taking some lessons. I might have a fight on my hands.”

Nashville Superspeedway is owned by Dover Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE: DVD), a leading promoter of motorsports events in the United States. DVD subsidiaries operate three tracks in three states, and present several hundred motorsports events each year. This includes 14 major, national events which include races sanctioned by NASCAR and the NHRA. Dover Motorsports, Inc. also owns and operates Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del., and Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis, Mo. For further information log on to www.DoverMotorsports.com. This release may contain forward-looking statements based on management’s beliefs and assumptions. Such statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause results to vary materially. Please refer to the SEC filings of DVD for a discussion of such factors.