Before February's race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, four-time IndyCar champion and three-time Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti hadn't competed in a NASCAR race since 2008, and he hadn't competed in a Craftsman Truck Series race since 2007.
In fact, he hadn't competed in any race since his harrowing IndyCar crash on the streets of Houston, Texas in October 2013.
But that changed when Franchitti landed a one-off ride with Tricon Garage at the very track where he won in 2011 to open up his fourth and final IndyCar championship-winning season.
The 52-year-old Scottish driver proved he still has what it takes to compete at a high level, running inside the top 10 all race until a late suspension issue and cooling issues relegated him to 27th. He scored points with a sixth place finish in the first stage and an eighth place finish in the second.
Dario Franchitti replacement confirmed for Darlington
The Truck Series has had off for the past two weekends, but action is scheduled to resume this weekend at Darlington Raceway. While a future return to the series for Franchitti hasn't been ruled out, he won't compete this weekend, and he is unlikely to compete on an oval.
This weekend, it's set to be William Sawalich behind the wheel of the No. 1 Toyota. Sawalich never ran full-time in the Truck Series before landing his full-time deal with Joe Gibbs Racing in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series ahead of the 2025 season, although he has competed in select races in the series dating back to 2023.
He has four top 10 finishes in 21 career starts, including a top finish of sixth place at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in 2023. His only national series start at Darlington came in the O'Reilly Series a year ago, when he finished 35th. He has not yet competed in a Truck Series race in 2026.
Tricon Garage, which run three full-time trucks for Kaden Honeycutt, Tanner Gray, and Gio Ruggiero, are set to run both of their part-time trucks this weekend. After Adam Andretti drove the No. 5 truck at both EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) and St. Petersburg, Corey Heim is set to drive it this weekend. Heim drove the No. 1 truck at Atlanta.
Sawalich is set to drive the No. 5 truck in the upcoming May races at Texas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The Buckle Up South Carolina 200 is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 from Darlington Raceway beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET this Friday, March 20. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and catch all of the action!