Franchitti Earns 'Pole' Position in Hometown

The Tennessean

Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Dario Franchitti returned home to a position that he has come accustomed to over the past four IZOD IndyCar Series seasons, a pole position, only this time it is in his hometown.  A checkered flag hangs in Leiper's Fork Village (Tennessee) commemorating his third championship, after clinching the 2010 title at Homestead on Oct. 2.

The Leiper’s Fork Village resident started on the pole and led the most laps (128) in the 200-lap event, picking up the additional bonus points and driving to an eighth-place finish, enabling him to finish five points ahead of Will Power in the overall standing-the second-closest margin of victory in series history.

Franchitti’s title signifies only the second time in history that a driver has won the Indianapolis 500 and series championship in the same year on two different occasions (winning both in 2007 and now 2010); A.J Foyt did it in the USAC Champ car series in 1961 and 1964.