Bobby Labonte, who drove the Joe Gibbs owned, #18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac to his first NASCAR Winston Cup driving title, and earned the car owner championship for Gibbs, was voted the Al Holbert Memorial Eastern Motorsport Press Association Driver of the Year Award. Ted Christopher, the winningest asphalt Modified stock car driver in the Northeast for the second straight year, was voted the EMPA’s Northeast Driver of the Year. When the annual Eastern Motorsport Press Association Convention is presented, January 5-7, 2000, at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center in Trevose, PA (north of Philadelphia) Labonte and Christopher will receive their awards. More than 150 media who regularly cover motorsports are expected to be in attendance. In addition four new names will be added to the prestigious Eastern Motorsport Press Association Hall of Fame. 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti will be inducted into the Hall of Fame along with six time NASCAR National Modified champion Jerry Cook (now a NASCAR executive), the late Larry Nuber the pioneering motorsports television personality, and 1960 NASCAR National Sportsman champion and 1961 co-champion Bill Wimble who also notched five championships at Fonda, NY Speedway. The EMPA membership also selected Kyle Petty & The Petty Family to receive their T.Wayne Robertson Memorial Newsmaker Award for their outstanding charitable activities. The Eastern Motorsport Press Association is a non-profit organization made up of more than 250 media that regularly cover motorsports as print journalists, photographers and broadcasters. The EMPA continues to strive to improve the media coverage given the sport and the conditions under which the media work as they cover the sport(Eastern Motorsport Press Association PR)(12-20-2000)
