<table> </table> Dario Franchitti well remembers the third week of May. He was recovering from a broken ankle, but that was not the only pain he was suffering. Franchitti, a lifelong open-wheel driver, was suffering separation anxiety.</p><p>The IndyCars were at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they were chasing the biggest prize in auto racing, and he wasn&#8217;t. Worse, he was being pummeled by people asking him if he wished he were there.</p><p>He told people, nah. But, he did.</p><p>Next year, there will be no such questions. Next year, he will attempt to win the Indianapolis 500 a second time. Franchitti announced Tuesday that he is ending his fling with stock-car racing and is headed back to the IndyCar series, the series in which he was the 2007 champion.</p><p>In 2009, Franchitti will drive for Target Chip Ganassi Racing. He will drive the No. 10 car that is currently being driven by Dan Wheldon, who will move to Panther Racing next season.</p><p>Franchitti, 35, gave several reasons for returning to open-wheel.</p><p>&#8220;The unified series is excellent news,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The schedule for next year (which features an abundance of his beloved road races) was a big part of my decision. Plus, the chance to drive for Target Chip Ganassi Racing.&#8221;</p><p>Franchitti started out driving for Ganassi this season &#8212; in NASCAR. He was in the No. 40 Ganassi-owned Dodge. But in April, he suffered a broken ankle in a crash in the Nationwide race at Talladega.</p><p>He sat out four races. After the ankle healed, he suffered another blow when Ganassi shut the Cup team down because of a lack of sponsorship.</p><p>Franchitti said he met with Ganassi at the IndyCar race in Detroit over the weekend and they talked about giving him the No. 41 Cup car, which is being vacated by Reed Sorenson next season. Franchitti instead, opted to accept the offer of an IndyCar ride.</p><p>&#8220;Absolutely no regrets,&#8221; Franchitti said of taking a swing at NASCAR. &#8220;I think the first part of the season was very, very tough. I was just starting to get the hang of it when I broke my ankle. Absolutely no regrets. A lot of it, I really enjoyed.&#8221;</p><p>Having to watch this year&#8217;s Indy 500 from a distance was not one of the things he enjoyed, even though he waved off questions about that at the time.</p><p>&#8220;I kind of downplayed it,&#8221; Franchitti said. &#8220;I said no, it was no big deal. But I definitely missed being there.&#8221;</p><p>Next season, Franchitti will be paired with Scott Dixon, who has a healthy points lead heading to the final points race of the year at Chicago.</p><p>&#8220;Pretty cool,&#8221; Dixon said of bringing Franchitti on board. &#8220;It&#8217;s definitely very positive. It&#8217;s huge for the team.&#8221;</p><p>The decision by Ganassi and Wheldon to part ways, however, was a shocker to Dixon.</p><p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t see it coming,&#8221; Dixon said.</p><p>Wheldon will move to the Panther team&#8217;s No. 4 car. That car is currently being driven by Vitor Meira.</p><p>Franchitti is scheduled to make four more Nationwide starts, the next being Friday night in Richmond, Va. Franchitti said he was not sure that he would make those starts.