IndyCar drivers selected to Auto Racing All-America team

Five IZOD IndyCar Series drivers, led by overall series champion Dario Franchitti and Will Power, and Firestone Indy Lights champion J.K. Vernay were selected to the 2010 All-America Auto Racing Team by members of the nation's motorsports press.

The team includes the largest group ever named to the First Team, 21 drivers, as a result of the addition of a new category this year by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association.

Franchitti, who won his third IZOD IndyCar Series title in four years and his second Indianapolis 500 and Power, who scored a series high five win were named to the first team while Vernay, Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe were named to the second-team selections. Tony Kanaan was an honorable mention selection.

Bryan Clauson, who earned a scholarship to compete in Firestone Indy Lights in 2011 by winning the USAC National Drivers Championship, was also a first-team selection.

In addition to his All-America honor Vernay was named the winner of the 2010 Rising Star. The 23-year-old Frenchman picked up votes from nearly a third of the voters on the 15-name ballot to finish four votes ahead of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year Austin Dillon, 20. Third in the vote was USAC driver Kody Swanson, 22, who raced in five different USAC series with victories in four of them while James Hinchcliffe was fourth on the ballot.