Bathgate racing car driver Dario Franchitti inducted into Scottish Sports Hall of Fame

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Bathgate bairn Dario Franchitti has received the country's highest sporting honour after being inducted into the Scottish Sport Hall of Fame.The 49-year-old motorsport legend is a three-time winner of the famous Indianapolis 500 as well as four-time IndyCar Series champion and is considered to be amongst the very best open-wheel racing drivers.Franchitti was officially elected last night at the glittering Scottish Sports Awards 2022 ceremony in Edinburgh.The race ace started his career in the UK in the early 1990s - winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award in 1992 and competing in Formula Vauxhall and Formula Three events before beginning his career in the States in 1997 in CART.After winning 10 races across six seasons, he moved to the IndyCar Series in 2003 and that was where he would really make his name.Across an 11-season stint, he would win 21 races and seal 59 podiums with his breakout year coming in 2007 when he won his first Indy500 and well as his maiden IndyCar Series title - sealing the deal in a thrilling final race decider.That success also saw him crowned BBC Scotland's Sports Personality of the Year.He would go on to establish himself as one of the premier drivers in IndyCar with his 31 overall open-wheel driving wins seeing him tied ninth in the all-time rankings.Sadly, his racing career came to an abrupt end in 2013 when he was involved in a serious crash at the Grand Prix of Houston which resulted in two fractured vertebrae, a broken ankle and a concussion with his retirement being announced a month later.Since stepping away, he has forged a successful second career in the sport as a TV commentator and analyst and was elected into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2019. Don't miss the latest