INDIANAPOLIS — In his home in Scotland, Dario Franchitti has a room dedicated to Jim Clark memorabilia. Check that. More than a room. “It’s getting close to an entire floor now,” Franchitti says with a laugh.

Such is Franchitti’s devotion to the famed Scottish driver, who 50 years ago won the Indianapolis 500 — just one of many milestones in a legendary racing career — that he’s one of five patrons of the Jim Clark Memorial Room, a museum honoring Clark in Duns, Scotland.

The museum is undergoing an expansion that will house even more Clark memorabilia, including some of Franchitti’s collection of cars, uniforms, helmets, trophies and other keepsakes.

But on Sunday morning, a few minutes before the start of the race Franchitti won three times, he’ll do something that can’t be placed under glass in a museum. He’ll drive Clark’s Ford-powered Lotus 38/1 — the car that won the 1965 Indianapolis 500 — around Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the Indy 500. It’s a chance to honor his countryman and hero, and connect with a driver he never met but is fascinated by.

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“It’s the mystery of it,” Franchitti told USA TODAY Sports. “Jimmy died five years before I was born. I never got to meet him. There aren’t many films of him talking, which adds to that mysterious thing and the fascination, maybe. It’s more his personality, I think, as much as the fact that he was one of the greatest drivers. To me, personally, he was the greatest.”

Franchitti’s interest in Clark, who was killed in a Formula Two race in Hockenheim, Germany, in 1968, began in earnest in 1993, when Franchitti’s mentor, Scottish racing legend Jackie Stewart, invited Franchitti to a dinner commemorating the 25th anniversary of Clark’s death.

“That started the whole thing,” Franchitti said. “I started thinking, ‘Who was this guy?’ I started reading books about him. My friends gave me some pictures of him, and that started the collection. Then I got more and more, and now it’s completely out of control.”

Clark won Formula One world championships in 1963 and 1965, winning 25 of 73 F1 races from 1960 to 1968. In 1963, he tried his hand at the Indianapolis 500 with a Lotus 29 that had a distinct European flair. His win at Indy in ‘65 revolutionized the race, making the rear-engine car of the future the car of the present.

When Franchitti drives it Sunday, he won’t be pressing.

“If you ask me what the chassis handles like, I wouldn’t be able to tell you, because I haven’t driven the thing anywhere near the limit,” he said. “That’s just not what it’s about. This car is a time warp from 1965. Apart from two pieces, it’s completely original. It did one race and they parked it. In 2009, when they started to restore it, it still had the original oil in it.”

Since being forced to retire because of a concussion and other injuries sustained in a crash at Houston in 2013, Franchitti has taken a role with Chip Ganassi Racing that’s best described as part consultant, part coach and part mentor. He works with all four Ganassi drivers — pole winner Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Charlie Kimball and Sage Karam — but he spends most of his time working with Kimball and Karam.

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He’s comfortable in his new role, even if it means he won’t get a chance to tie the Indy record of four victories shared by A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears.

“Would I have loved to have had a go at four? Yeah,” Franchitti said. “But after the accident, regardless of the direction from (Dr. Steve) Olvey, I think I ended the last desire to do what was required to win, particularly on an oval but certainly also on a street course. I knocked that last bit out.”

Now, Franchitti is seen enjoying the work with the team and the opportunities — like Sunday’s — to engage fans in the history of racing.

“I really enjoy it,” he said. “I get satisfaction out of it. I don’t get the massive highs, but I don’t miss the lows you got if you had a very bad day. But I like being here. I like being at the speedway, and I love still being a part of this team.”