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Dario Franchitti was involved in a violent car crash on the Talladega Superspeedway where he broke his ankle. Franchitti knew it could have been worse, but now he doesn't know when is he going back in the racing world.

The incident took place on Saturday at the Nationwide Series race at Talladega; Franchitti's rear tire exploded sending his car into the outside wall after 10 laps; he was not injured with the first impact but then his car was drilled in the driver side door by Larry Gunselman.

The driver made some statements regarding his incident ...'This is broken' as soon as I was hit," said Franchitti "I thought I was OK, and thought 'Those guys did a good job of missing me,' " he said. "Then I got KO'ed."

This recent situation has sidelined the Scottish driver who is the current Indy Car Series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner for no less than two weeks. David Stremme, who drove the No. 40 Dodge for two seasons before Franchitti replaced him, filled in for him in Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Talladega.

But there are some other issues such as David Stremme's contract that do not allow him to drive in the Franchitti's place as Stremme was hired not too long ago by Penske Racing as a test pilot; therefore they are looking for a replacement for Franchitti at least for next week in Richmond.

"He's not available, so we may end up picking and choosing a little bit based on the fact that we have to qualify this car into the race."

Although his spirit seemed high, Franchitti admitted he was disappointed at this setback to what's already been a tough rookie NASCAR season. He came into Sunday's race ranked 38th in the scoreboard and failed to qualify for the race in Texas. But he bounced back by making the field two weeks ago in Phoenix and again at Talladega.

He is going to see Dr. Terry Tramell, the orthopedic consultant for the Indy Racing League, to have a better idea on how long he is going to be out. This injury is a bit ironic for Franchitti, who had been accused by many of moving to NASCAR out of safety concerns with the Indy cars. But he's dismissed that opinion several times, and said his broken ankle proves that any form of racing is dangerous.

"I got asked that question a lot, 'Are you coming here because it's safer?' and I said 'No,' because if you are looking for something safe to do, do not drive a racing car," he said. "Racing is dangerous, whether it's NASCAR or Indy cars. Everyone is doing everything they can to make these things as safe as possible. Everybody is working hard to make these things safer, but racing isn't safe and we know that."

Franchitti is definitely a great acquisition for the NASCAR world but besides its dangerous lanes the rookie pilot will have to overcome greater gaps such those of the press and his counterparts.

Claudia Beckford provides outstanding Nascar content as well as information in the online betting industry.