Franchitti slated to make Busch debut at Memphis

CONCORD, N.C. -- Chip Ganassi Racing said Monday that driver Dario Franchitti will make his Busch Series debut Saturday at Memphis.

In preparation for the Busch race, Franchitti is scheduled to spend Wednesday testing at Kentucky Speedway.

Franchitti made his NASCAR debut in the Truck Series race at Martinsville. He and fellow open-wheeler Jacques Villeneuve, who made his third Craftsman Truck Series start and his fourth in NASCAR, were both eliminated in accidents.

Franchitti got as high as 15th, for 20 laps at mid-race, before he was involved in an accident and retired in 33rd position due to rear-end failure.

"It was down to my experience level," Franchitti said. "When it got a little tight I was struggling with how to drive the corner a little different. I think some of that was inexperience on my part in setting up the truck [Friday] in that I didn't know what to expect [Saturday] and how the truck was going to react, and some was the inexperience of the crew, because this was the first time they'd ever run a truck."

Overall, Franchitti was enthused about his weekend.

"It was a good experience -- it was interesting, if you ignore the result," he said, laughing. "The result is pretty disappointing -- like, very disappointing. But at the same time we're here to learn right now and it's a long way to go."