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He's 33 years old, was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, but lives near Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, the Hollywood star Ashley Judd, who he married in 2001 at Scotland's Skibo Castle, where Madonna also had her nuptials.
But it wasn't until Monday that Dario Franchitti achieved a
resounding success that is likely to bring him long overdue recognition in his homeland.
While Lewis Hamilton was running into controversy in the Monaco Grand Prix, Franchitti was dodging a downpour to win another world famous motor race, the Indianapolis 500. Pictures of his wife greeting him in Victory Lane immediately flashed round the globe as he received from her some of the spoils of success in America's most prestigious - and richest - automobile contest.
Franchitti's triumph was a long awaited payback for a man who, back in 1994, was forgotten after losing the British F3 Championship to teammate Jan Magnussen. Back then it seemed that the Dane, who had won virtually all the races for the team run by Jackie and Paul Stewart, was the next Ayrton Senna.
Franchitti, only fourth overall with a single win, lost his ride the next season.
Good looking in a saturnine way, and possessed of an even temperament, he was born and raised in Scotland, of Italian stock, and lists his parents, George and Marina, together with Jackie Stewart, as the three most influential people in his life.
Down at Buckmore Park, the kart track in Kent where Franchitti and his younger brother Marino (and Hamilton) cut their racing teeth, they still tell the (possibly fictitious) story about how, on one occasion when the brothers had failed to cover themselves in glory, they had been abandoned to find their own way back home to Scotland.
They arrived in time to brush their teeth and head off to school the next day.
Franchitti brought that tough resourcefulness to re-establishing himself on the American racing scene. Up until Monday his greatest achievement had been tying on points with 1999 champion Juan Pablo Montoya, who got the title nod with seven wins to his three.
But that season was bittersweet, as Franchitti's close friend, the Canadian driver Greg Moore, was killed in the final race.
"Greg was the guy I competed with the hardest on the track, and he was the guy I had the most fun with away from the track," Franchitti said. "He was going to be a champion many times over."
As others moved into the limelight, Franchitti found himself so often just beyond it, despite 14 career wins. All through the lengthy build-up at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May, which is part of the race's mystique, he referred to himself and New Zealand rival Scott Dixon as "the invisible men".
Then as the race was flagged off after 166 of the scheduled 200 laps because of a cloudburst, he was first with Dixon second.
Back in 1965 another Scot, the legendary Jim Clark, won the race for Lotus. That was not lost on Franchitti, who unusually for an active driver has a fanatical enthusiasm for, and understanding of, his sport's heritage.
"That was one of the reasons I was so pissed I didn't win in 2005," he admits. "I was so upset because it was 40 years since Jimmy had won it.
"It all kind of made sense this time when I turned around and looked at the Borg Warner trophy. I saw some of the names on it. I was in awe, I really was, to see the great names on there."
Such is Franchitti's respect for the two-time world champion Clark, who died in a minor race at Hockenheim in 1968, that he has added a Jim Clark room to the house he has been restoring in Scotland.
"I think he's a hero for any Scottish driver, and really one of the best drivers in the world ever. It was the only time I ever went and picked out a tile. I had to get the tile to match his helmet ...
Referring to his comment about invisibility, Franchitti says: "That remark didn't escape me. When we came down to what was going to be the last restart, I looked back and saw Dixon there. I thought, 'Hmm, this should make people sit up and take notice'.
"We kind of flew under the radar all month - all year, actually. It's an interesting thing to go through - this whole month - because the race only comes along once a year.
"I think the disbelief started when the rain started. They came on the radio, checkers [chequered flag] next time by. I'm thinking it's going to be difficult even to get there because the car was aquaplaning, it was so wet out there. Then across the finish line, it was just disbelief coming into the pits.
"I came in really slowly. First of all, I didn't want to crash the car on the in-lap. The crowd stayed throughout the rain delay, got absolutely soaked."
As he celebrated the greatest day of his career, somebody suggested that, like Clark, he is the good guy of the sport. "That's awesome, really nice," he said, suddenly quiet amid all the euphoria. "You race each other very hard, but afterwards go out and have some fun. Greg taught us that."
- INDEPENDENT
