Franchitti wants to race

Dario Franchitti isn't sure what his future holds, but the former open-wheel star said Wednesday he'd like to remain in NASCAR.

Franchitti, the 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar Series champion, lost his full-time ride Tuesday when team owner Chip Ganassi closed down the unsponsored No. 40 Dodge 17 races into Franchitti's first season. The move also resulted in 71 layoffs.

"This is not a decision he made lightly, and it shows how bad the economy is," Franchitti, 35, said. "And you certainly never want to see all those people lose their jobs. I know for certain Chip struggled with that -- I didn't even recognize his voice when he called me to tell me what he had to do.

"But the decision has been made, and now I'll sit with Chip next week and decide what we're going to do going forward."

A highly decorated open-wheel racer, Franchitti made the decision to join the growing list of drivers moving to NASCAR at the end of his most successful IRL season.After paying for Franchitti's car himself for the first six months of the year, Ganassi had to stop or risk it affecting his other two cars driven by Juan Pablo Montoya and Reed Sorenson.

He's got sponsorship on his Nationwide Series car and has offered Franchitti that seat.

"Let's see what the future holds. I really just need to sit with Chip and see where his head is," Franchitti said.

NHRA SHORTENS TOP DIVISION RACES: Eleven days after Scott Kalitta, 46, was killed in a racing accident in New Jersey, the NHRA reduced the length of Top Fuel and Funny Car races from a quarter-mile to 1,000 feet Wednesday in an interim safety measure.

The 320-foot reduction will start next week in the Mopar Mile High Nationals in Colorado. The Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle classes will continue to run a quarter-mile.