I know there's a few scots here interested in the franchitti development so I'll post this news here as well:

Franchitti has decided to give up the option of going back to IndyCar and has set to remain in NASCAR for the remaining season.

He still has a ride in the Busch series with the 40 car still sponsored and has now agreed to race part time with Bryan Clauson for the busch series:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/69452

Franchitti's departure has also rilled some sympathy in the NASCAR group. Veteran Jeff Burton has stated that he believes the scot is able to achieve success in NASCAR.

"Roush Fenway's Greg Biffle added that Franchitti had shown improvement during the season and was shocked by news of his team's closure."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68818

Personally I do believe Franchitti is good enough to do well in NASCAR. After all ovals aren't exactly foreign to him. But like Jacques Villeneuve, Andy Lally, and other hopefuls (this includes stock car drivers from Busch, ARCA, etc) he'll have a tough time ahead of him unless he can pull a very good finish in his remaining races.

He has the support from Ganassi and even his fellow NASCAR drivers. Right now all he needs is money...

Good to hea that he's going to give it a real go, typical Scottish stuborness some may say , it would have been all too easy for him to go back to the Open Wheel racing, but he wants to race in NASCAR and come hell or high water....Dario will race in NASCAR.

All the best to him, but when it comes to getting money for NASCAR in America, Dario is going to have his work cut out for him.

Quote from Mackie The Staggie :

Good to hea that he's going to give it a real go, typical Scottish stuborness some may say ,

I do have some good gossip for you Mackie.

He may seem to be in the same boat as Jacques Villeneuve however Ganassi's 41 team driven by Reed Sorenson is doing almost as poor as the 40 team was. The 41 team is financially stable for 2009 but Ganassi is rumored to remove Sorenson from the car and put Franchitti in the 41. So there's actually a good chance we'll be seeing Franchitti back in NASCAR.

What Franchitti has going for him is interest from NASCAR, all he needs to do is get a financially stable team and show what he can really do. It's his luck that Ganassi's not too happy with Sorenson.