Dario Franchitti Wiki: Racer, Net Worth & Facts About Ashley Judd's Ex Husband

You probably love supercars and sports cars. Well, love for speed starts from car racing, and you probably know Dario Franchitti. Franchitti is a renowned British car racer. He won the IndyCar series four times, the Indianapolis 500 three times and won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2008. Franchitti was a successful racer, and to date, he still holds his legacy. He is the ex husband of Ashley Judd. But apart from seeing Franchitti popping celebration champagnes with his crew after a win, do you know anything about him before he became a celebrated racer? Maybe not! The 44-year-old Franchitti was born and raised for a while in Bathgate, Scotland. Franchitti’s father is known as George Franchitti while his mother is known as Marina Franchitti. They moved to Whitburn when Franchitti was eight years of age. According to Franchitti, he is a supporter of Celtic Football Club. He became interested in karting while in Edinburg’s Stewart’s Melville College. Franchitti won his first karting race in 1984 then went ahead to win a British Junior Championship and Scottish senior title in 1988. Dario Franchitti married Ashley Judd in 2001, and then they divorced in 2013.

Like I mentioned above, Dario won numerous karting championships. It’s from there that he got the experience and then progressed to Formula racing afterward. Franchitti was a frequent winner in kart racing, and after he joined Formula racing, winning became part of his life. The racer won Formula Vauxhall Junior title back in 1991 and then progressed to claim the title for Formula Vauxhall Lotus two years later. Judging by his wins, Franchitti was a household name in Formula racing.

The racer first raced in CART on the series nicknamed “young guns.” Alongside Franchitti, the race also included Pablo Montoya, Tonny Kannan, Max Papis, Helio Castroneves, and the late Greg Moore. Moore was Franchitti’s great friend and he died in 1999 during the season finale after he crashed on the Auto Club Speedway. By the end of the season, the same year that Franchitti’s friend and fellow racer died, Franchitti tied points with Montaya. However, Franchitti came second after Montaya with three wins while Montaya had seven.

Franchitti moved to the series in 2003 but didn’t participate entirely due to a back injury caused by a motorcycle accident. Franchitti won his first Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar championship and then moved to NASCAR by the end of the season. Judd’s ex husband raced 29 times on three NASCAR series for the entire 2008 but didn’t manage to win a single race. Franchitti then returned to IndyCar in 2009 with his team owner, Chip Ganassi. After he returned, Franchitti dominated IndyCar series and won championships for three consecutive years starting with2009. Judd’s ex husband even won the Indianapolis 500 in 2010. Franchitti went on driving for Ganassi as he was a member of Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

As mentioned above, Franchitti married Ashley Judd in 2001 and the couple divorced in 2013. They still maintain a friendship. When they were together, they used to split times when they were off to spend time together. Sometimes Judd would come and spend time with her ex husband, Franchitti in Scotland. At other times, Franchitti would fly all the way to his then-wife, Ashley Judd who lived in Franklin, Tennessee, where they would spend quality time together.

Franchitti and his friend Dixon and Dixon’s wife, Emma Davies-Dixon were on a drive-thru at around 10 in the evening when they were robbed at gunpoint by two juvenile boys. Neither Franchitti nor Dixon discussed the matter with the media but their fellow racer, Tony Kannan said that at the time, Franchitti and Dixon were making a food run for some drivers. Franchitti was ordering food with the car’s windows down when two boys approached, pulled out guns and pointed at them asking for money. One guy proceeded to Dixon, put a gun to his head, and asked for his wallet and his phone. The boys were later arrested and charged.

Franchitti had had an accident before but had recovered and became active again in racing. Judd’s ex husband had won a couple of races since the accident, and the future looked promising until he experienced a crash. It all happened at the Grand Prix of Houston, the same year he divorced Ashley Jude. Franchitti mas making contact with another driver when the vehicle that Judd’s ex husband was racing with caught air and flew into the fence. The vehicle was totally damaged and caused a major scare at the race. Franchitti came out alive but suffered a concussion, broken ankle, and two fractures on his backbone. One month later, he announced his retirement with 31 wins, making him the ninth-best racer of all time.

From his career as a racer, Dario Franchitti has a net worth of $72 million. His ex-wife, Ashley Jude has a net worth of $22 million.

Even though Dario Franchitti retired, he is still active in Formula racing. He manages and motivates other drivers. The racer got married again. His wife is called Eleanor Robb and they have a child together known as Sofia.