Internal unrest at Andretti Green

Had Dan Wheldon known his teammate was trying to pass him, Dario Franchitti might have had a better shot at beating Hornish.

Wheldon, on the verge of being lapped by Franchitti in the late stages of Saturday’s race, wasn’t aware — and apparently wasn’t told over the radio — that his Andretti Green Racing teammate was behind him. For two laps, Franchitti and his No. 27 AGR Honda/Dallara struggled to lap Wheldon’s No. 26 AGR Honda/Dallara. Suddenly, Wheldon ducked low and lifted, allowing Franchitti to resume his pursuit of Hornish. When Franchitti emerged from his car after finishing fourth, he expressed annoyance at Wheldon. AGR co-owners Michael Andretti and Kim Green then told Franchitti that Wheldon — for reasons not immediately known — had not been informed by radio that the car behind him was Franchitti’s.

“Dan didn’t know," Franchitti said after the discussion with Andretti and Green. “When he got the word, he got out of the way. Unfortunately, they didn’t get the word to him quick enough. I don’t know why. We’ll get to the bottom of it. It’s really frustrating, because the car was so quick."

Andretti was furious about the mix-up, fuming in an animated conversation with Green after the race. But AGR driver Tony Kanaan, who saw Andretti and Green tell Franchitti of the error, said, “I saw all of the commotion around Dario after the race, and I couldn’t understand why," Kanaan said. “I’m sure they’ll fix the problem. They will talk. We’re good teammates. We have our moments, and that’s part of the game. We should take our frustrations in-house and fix it. It’s like a marriage. It’s not good all of the time. You’re going to have a problem."

“On equal terms today, (Hornish) wasn’t quick enough," Franchitti said. "The deck was stacked in our favor. We would have had him easily." SPEEDTV.com