CALINOFF PROVIDES VOICE OF EXPERIENCE FOR FRANCHITTI

When David Stremme arrived on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series scene in 2006, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates hired 15-year veteran spotter Mike Calinoff to provide experience and guidance for the rookie. Now, two years later and faced with a similar scenario, Ganassi has signed Calinoff to once again provide that experience from the spotter’s tower for his newest Sprint Cup rookie, 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner and IRL Series champion Dario Franchitti.

An entrepreneur with an array of successful and growing businesses, Calinoff has a vast amount of experience working with drivers in the developmental stage and is eager to begin working with Franchitti.

“Obviously, Dario is an extremely talented racer who accomplished great things in the IRL,” he began. “But as a rookie in the Sprint Cup Series, he’s going to need experience and knowledge around him in order to learn the stock cars. I believe that all of the right people are in place for this team to succeed – and I‘m excited to be a part of it.”

Calinoff began as a NASCAR spotter in 1992. He spent six years spotting for Matt Kenseth, including his 2003 Sprint Cup championship season. He spent the last two years as David Stremme’s Sprint Cup spotter.

Franchitti has 8 IRL victories in 67 starts in the Indy cars. He won last year’s Indianapolis 500 en route to the 2007 IRL championship. He will drive the No. 40 Dodge full-time in 2008 while competing for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award in Sprint Cup.

Mike Calinoff is all about winning. It's what gets him up in the morning and rocks him to sleep at night. At the NASCAR level, he has been to Victory Lane more times than any other active Spotter having won in the NASCAR Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series. He has also joined the winning celebrations in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and ARCA/ReMAX Series.

Meet Mike!

NASCAR Driver Development Clinic

Watch for the latest race information on Dario and Mike.

visit Dario Franchitti's official website.