TALLADEGA, Ala. — Dario Franchitti knew his ankle was broken the moment he was involved in a hard crash at Talladega Superspeedway. He also knew he could have been hurt much worse.

"From experience, unfortunately, I said 'This is broken' as soon as I was hit," Franchitti said Sunday, delicately balancing on a set of crutches as he kept his left foot, covered in a cast and bandage, elevated.

"But it could have been a lot worse, and that's the thing. I'm very lucky these cars are as safe as they are."

Franchitti was injured just 10 laps into Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Talladega when a rear tire on his Dodge exploded, sending his car into the outside wall. He wasn't hurt in the first impact, though. The damage was done after his car slid down the track, came to a stop on the apron and was drilled in the driver side door by Larry Gunselman.

"I thought I was OK, and thought 'Those guys did a good job of missing me,' " he said. "Then I got KO'ed."

The injuries have sidelined the reigning Indy Car Series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner for at least two weeks. David Stremme, who drove the No. 40 Dodge for two seasons before Franchitti replaced him, filled in for Franchitti in Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Talladega.

But contractual issues with Penske Racing, which recently hired Stremme as a test driver, will not permit Stremme to drive for Franchitti beyond Sunday. Now Chip Ganassi Racing is looking for another replacement driver for at least next week in Richmond.

"We're very grateful that we have David for this weekend," said Steve Hmiel, competition director for Chip Ganassi Racing. "After that, it's a matter of getting through today, seeing where Dario ends up and then sitting down as a group and deciding who's the best option for where we're going. We'd like to have one standout guy like David Stremme do it all.

"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."

Franchitti said he would travel to Indianapolis after Sunday's race to see Dr. Terry Trammell, the orthopedic consultant for the Indy Racing League, and get a better idea after the appointment on how long he'll be out.

"He'll fix me up, he's done it before," Franchitti said.

Although his spirits 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 points, and had 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.

"We did a pretty good job, got in the race in Phoenix, it was a pretty big hurdle," he said. "Definitely, Phoenix gave me a lot of confidence, the team a lot of confidence and I think I made a step as far as learning how I have to drive the cars."

Now he'll be sidelined for at least a few weeks, or until he is strong enough to return to the car because he brakes with his left foot.

The 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 notion 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."

Meanwhile, Franchitti will be alone during his early days of recovery. His actress wife Ashley Judd is currently in Africa and didn't even learn about the accident until Sunday morning.

"She said 'Are you OK?' and I said 'I broke my ankle' and she said 'Oh.' She's cool," he smiled.