Dario: I'm still in title hunt.

Preparing for the sixth of 14 events that make up this year's IRL IndyCar Series championship season Scotland's Dario Franchitti still believes that he is well in the hunt for the 2006 title despite his Watkins Glen failings.

A wholly disappointing outing for the Andretti-Green driver at a track where he was expected to excel has resulted in Franchitti dropping to tenth in the IRL standings nearly 80 points behind leader Helio Castroneves but despite the deficit Franchitti is confident that, starting with Saturday's Bombardier Learjet 500k at the Texas Motor Speedway, he can still be a player through the busy summer months.

"The Klein Tools/Canadian Club guys have done an incredible job the last couple of races," commented Franchitti, who finished seventh at Indianapolis and 14th at Watkins Glen after one self-induced spin and another with help from Tomas Scheckter. "Unfortunately, we have not had the results that we expected. Based on Homestead and Motegi, I think we'll have a fast car and one that can challenge for the win at Texas."

Just two top ten finishes in the first five races and a grand total of zero podiums has left Franchitti on the brink of another year where he flattered to deceive. But with a runner-up finish and a total of two top ten finishes in three IRL starts at the ultra-fast 1.5-mile Texas oval, Franchitti is still bullish as he goes into his third race in as many weekends.

"We're still in the hunt for the championship and a good finish at Texas would really help our effort," he concluded.