Franchitti earns top honor from EMPA

Dario Franchitti, the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series champion and a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, has been honored by Eastern Motorsport Press Association's as its 2010 Al Holbert Memorial National Driver of the Year.

Franchitti earned his third IZOD IndyCar Series title in four years and his second-straight for team owner Chip Ganassi by just five points over series runner-up Will Power.

The EMPA also honored Ganassi, who was been named the T. Wayne Robertson Newsmaker of the Year. In addition to earning the team's third-straight series championship and the Indianapolis 500, Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Franchitti and Scott Dixon combined to win six IZOD IndyCar Series events in 2010. In Grand Am Rolex Series competition, co-drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas dominated the 2010 campaign, triumphing nine times in 12 events en route to taking the series title. In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team won the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the Bank of America 500 with Jamie McMurray, while Juan Pablo Montoya topped the August event at Watkins Glen.