Dario Franchitti: Racer, T.50 Development Driver - TST Podcast

Dario Franchitti can drive. He won the INDY 500 3 times; the IndyCar Championship 4 times; the 2008 24 Hours of Daytona; and he is the development driver for Gordon Murray Automotive. His stories are as incredible as his garage.
Recorded August 6, 2024
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[@GordonMurrayAutomotive]

43:03 Thanks for the plug Dario!

[@RS2KR]

Dario is a great guy. I met him at the 2010 Long Beach Grand Prix. I named my youngest son after him.

[@khalid0957]

One of the most enjoyable episode, Dario should be part of Chris Harris podcast.

[@harryokona]

That is an EXTREMELY good suggestion

[@declankerin5765]

Great pod. FYI - Dario's best Friend died at Fontana 1:01:15 (Greg Moore). That's why he had mixed Feelings.

[@Lou-f]

Excellent sniff and smith reference on the Bentley 😂

[@BenchRacerRC]

deceased spec!

[@littlebigcat]

Wasn’t expecting to hear deceased spec on this side of things.

[@skateboardz]

flute.

[@dmn01]

It can do that all day.

[@stotheh]

​@@dmn01 #goosefat

[@GN1995_3]

What does this mean?😂😂😂😂

[@littlebigcat]

@@GN1995_3 deceased spec means a car that has been barely used by an older person and then sold by a relative when the die. Coined by Johnny Smith and former TST guest Richard Porter. Dario is a listener of their podcast, and is frequently mentioned.

[@Dazedviper1]

What a great podcast. I will admit I wasn't familiar with Dario but after a few minutes I was hooked. He's so interesting and down to earth. Great pod Matt

[@maxmoser412]

1:31:35 WE DEF NEED A VIDEO OF HE AND MATT, RIPPING IT UP IN THE SPYDER AT THE CREST!

[@harryokona]

Dario is literally one of the coolest dudes on earth. Really really good podcast ep

[@drock6627]

Dario is one of my all time favorite drivers. He seems like such a genuine person and this was a great episode. Would love to see his Team Kool Green teammate Paul Tracy on an episode!

[@RumbleKar]

Something tells me Matt and PT would NOT get along very well

[@chrisburns4297]

When Dario says "think like Gordon", I was expecting Matt to say "Well, that's impossible. I'm an idiot and Gordon is a genius". Love you Matt ❤

[@tylerfortin6780]

Just a correction on something he said, Doug fixed his problem because he replaced the suspension of his Carrera GT thus the part that was recalled was replaced with an aftermarket part. Love the podcast, listen to every one!

[@HowDoesItKnow]

One of my favorite pods of the year! Dario was awesome.

[@ChadNewitz]

Had to come back here on KZbin side and thank the person who started uploading these as podcasts again so I can enjoy them trough yt music :)

[@karlos0955]

When Dario started talking about powertrain testing for T.50 and creating a powertrain mule, i could have sworn he said theyd6 stuck the motor in a butchered up Altima, which really gave me a good laughing thinking about one of those screaming around with two guys just giggling while test driving.

[@nickch_80]

His down turn to earth positive energy is contagious!

[@BorisBidjanSaberi11]

Dario "Chief Experience Officer" Franchitti

[@DuvJones]

Ok, that is funny.... CEO.... but that would mean that GMA would have two, and would be rather confusing.

[@e1beats]

Excellent interview Matt! One of your best! Dario is the MF man!

[@feenyx6394]

On that side of things, Dario is a brilliant chap. Racecar drivers that love and appreciate road cars make for the best guests. Could easily listen to parts two and three of this episode!

[@JacksonODJ]

What a cool guy. Great guest.

[@narumis]

01:28 - intro 02:32 - pretending that the stream is glitching cold open and starting out with some of Dario Franchitti's racing history with a detour to the T.50 10:58 - what's Dario's Jackie Stewart story? 14:55 - what is more rewarding to Dario, something like Indycar precision knife-edge or the wild driving of DTM on a road course? 16:33 - a lot of racing drivers no longer care about road cars after racing, but Dario does—a discussion of his collection 27:36 - Matt selling Dario on Gunther Werks and a discussion on the upper echelons of the car market caring more about engagement than raw speed 34:15 - is the T.33 considered a sibling to the T.50 or a completely different car? 37:51 - "What Would Gordon Do?" - an attempt to decode what Gordon Murray Automotive's next car will be, a defense of the convertable, and center seating pros 42:30 - when Dario drove the first mule for the T.50, what was his first bit of feedback? 46:19 - is Dario good at setup in being able to speak specifics or is he more general? 47:10 - did Dario ever have any major offs testing the T.50? 49:58 - what was changed from the T.50 to the T.50s to make it a track car? (and how do they make it so that a "normal" person can drive it?) 55:17 - what are Dario's top three vintage race cars he's driven? 59:27 - does Dario think that the sanctioning bodies should allow replica cars in vintage races? 1:00:51 - the first time Dario drove up Angeles Crest Highway 1:03:23 - what it was like driving cars to work at GMA and having Gordon judge your car (and more on Dario's past cars) Patreon questions: 1:11:28 - how does your process differ when giving feedback on a race car vs developing a road car and was it difficult to adjust to making those required compromises? 1:13:46 - if you had to race one type of racing full career, what would you choose? 1:15:09 - Dario, were there any design or mechanical elements of the T.50 that you had to convince Gordon to go in a different direction than he planned on? Anything you disagreed on? 1:16:16 - favorite Scottish B road and what car are you driving on it? 1:17:44 - what are some of the best nicknames you've heard in indycar? 1:18:00 - in your opinion, where do automakers commonly make the wrong priority decisions for street driving and how does the GMA make different choices? 1:23:24 - can you share a bit of the time that you were considering pursuing F1 with Jaguar? did other opportunities in F1 ever come up again? 1:29:39 - how did you spec your T.33? 1:33:43 - outro

[@wcmontana]

What a great guy and great guest Dario is. Good stuff!

[@EthanKlassen00]

Watching Dario have an epiphany when Matt described his Spyder was gold 😂

[@thegoodshot]

Dario seems like such a chill guy and a good hang.

[@_eldub]

I absolutely loved this episode!

[@JR10_RR]

These are the interviews Matt does really well with.

[@elmadi7391]

I love your podcast with Dario, very relaxed to hear as if I am the room listening and watching. Thank you for posting, I just subscribed 🙏🇺🇸

[@Duh_Huh_24]

Ha ha. The star tac! I got one before they were on sale because of our business relationship with motorola. I remember being in the arena at the national rodeo in vegas in '91 or '92 and it started ringing. People were shocked when I pulled it out and started having a conversation. I swear everyone in that massive place was just staring at us. LOL. Lots of big hitters introduced themselves to us throughout the rest of our trip; they just wanted to know who we were.

[@kriscote3295]

Yep - that dude rules!

[@davidh2809]

More Dario talking please.

[@Loothansa]

"My wife was racing a horse!" like thats the most outlandish thing in this conversation :D

[@FuturePrison]

Now you need to get Marino on the show. And then, both Dario and Marino together. I just imagine that would be a wild show

[@ZoneKei]

Convertible roof down 24/7! Can't beat the intake noise, exhaust noise and the smell of chip shops when you drive though small towns.

[@ginofornaro9197]

What an episode, Dario is a true gent

[@markcooper770]

What a great conversation. I got no work done this morning !

[@matt355]

What a great dude.

[@SoupyTurtle]

Wonderful guest!!

[@alexdial3139]

Great show, I really enjoyed this

[@danielduran5214]

Neil Clifford Shout out wow!!

[@pirkkaruuska5766]

Yeah... one of the best episodes of the podcast. Only complaint that it is too short :)

[@ducbox572]

What an excellent interview.

[@shingoose6197]

Another amazing episode for the books!

[@Butterbean32]

Oh hell yeah, so stoked for this pod!

[@ridewithkavirtrinidadtobag7968]

I thoroughly enjoyed this

[@thomasthornton5125]

Two of my favorite car guys

[@adamlehner3232]

You guys should do a driving eachothers cars series. I know the balance is off but the interperetation from each side would be really fun and cool

[@Heyitsallgoodman]

Great podcast

[@gabrielbarcellos1036]

T.50 e T.33 são obras primas indiscutivelmente mas eu espero ver como a GMA vai se sar com um futuro hibrido

[@Grundle_ItcH085]

Dario is the lads lad! 🤟

[@tannerburke13]

Been waiting for this forever

[@BOKtober]

“Has the whole world gone crazy? Am I the only one around here who gives a shit about the rules?”

[@adambrickler3640]

Over the line! Over the line Smoky!

[@NAJMFAN]

This guy is so cool!

[@MikeFromKentucky]

Thank you

[@larssonk22]

I wish other manufacturers would make more small sports/super cars again, can't drive these down B roads without a spare pair of trousers "what would Gordon do?" Put that on a t-shirt

[@laurieryoung]

MOT runs out on his F40 in 3 hours..... tick tock!

[@evorobin]

Everyone I’ve met called Dario is CAF!

[@Simon-du7yx]

Dario is just cool 😎 A great ambassador for us Brits 🇬🇧

[@AllSpeed]

i was kinda bummed to learn 555 on Rally Subaru's was a Japanese cigarette brand,

[@chadbarbaro]

why?

[@Hangoversteer]

Cheers mate thanks mate bye

[@ChadNewitz]

Why don't you categorize the video as a podcast no more :( unavailable trough podcasts platform

[@Heyitsallgoodman]

Don't understand, you mean it's not avaliable as audio only?

[@ChadNewitz]

@@Heyitsallgoodman you can't play it trough KZbin music like previously. Much better experience with it for remembering where you left off etc

[@isaaccan3155]

Nicknames in INDYCAR. How about Willy T Ribbs.

[@CarlaHolmes-c8c]

Lopez Sharon Harris George Thomas Jose

[@NewCastleIndiana]

Here’s what ChatGPT throughout there for Darios’s Also, I’ve enjoyed being around him watching him drive those cars at the last two Goodwood Members meetings Sure, here are a few inventive titles for Dario Franchitti in his role with Gordon Murray Automotive: 1. **Performance Pioneer** 2. **GMA Driving Maestro** 3. **Speed Artisan** 4. **Precision Pilot** 5. **Engineering Connoisseur** 6. **Velocity Virtuoso** 7. **Master of the Craft** What do you think? All right, adding a bit of that macho flair: 1. **Test Driver Commander** 2. **Performance Maverick** 3. **Lead Road Warrior** 4. **Engineering Enforcer** 5. **Speed Authority** 6. **Master of the Track** 7. **Powertrain Titan** How do these sound?

[@jamespettitt9213]

Deceased spec, 😂.

[@conspicuoustraverser7375]

I'm here

[@WestsideCollectorCarStowage]

I am too.

[@BullyBoxer]

FFS sake stop talking over the Guest, let them finish the sentence .🙄

[@wannabegamer170]

Love Matt but he interrupts too much

[@wannabegamer170]

Like 33:22 Dario is telling an incredible story about the founding of GMA that has yet to be told online and Matt just blasts into a question for no reason

[@nunolopes1112]

maybe its just me but...He doest let Franchitti speaking sometimes its annoying ....always talking about his opinions.

[@tictoc677]

So many ads its more e begging than podcast.

[@chadbarbaro]

you all know matt doesn't give a shit about racing. not a diss just something he has stated many time.

[@hellcat7054]

not even gonna watch this one im waiting for james may