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Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
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Note: Media photos are available.
RLR/Andersen Entries Qualify At Homestead for
2007 Indy Pro Series Season Opener
HOMESTEAD, Fla., March 23 - Andrew Prendeville of Morristown, N.J. qualified
21st and Joey Scarallo of Smithtown, N.Y. qualified 23rd on Friday night at
Homestead-Miami Speedway as RLR/Andersen Racing made its official debut in Indy
Pro Series competition with the two promising series rookies.
Andersen Racing, of Fairfield, N.J., is the official Indy Pro Series
development team of top IndyCar team Rahal Letterman Racing.
Driving the RLR/Andersen Racing No. 5 and promoting bestfriends.org,
Prendeville was timed in 29.4739 for an average speed of 181.381 miles per hour.
A few minutes before Prendeville's run Scarallo put his RLR/Andersen Racing
No. 15 into the show too, running a 29.5564 (180.875 mph) with his Dallara,
which advertises GroupAWheels.com.
Prendeville will start in Row 11 tomorrow beside A.J. Russell, while Scarallo
will be right behind him in Row 12 beside Jaime Camara.
The two young drivers are among 15 series rookies in the field of 26.
Chris Festa got the SWE Race Car Parts pole with a 28.5455 (187.280 mph) lap.
Scarallo was the second driver to take time while Prendeville was the fifth
to go by the timing beacon. Both ran their fastest time on the second of two
qualifying laps. The weather was mostly cloudy, with an 18 mph breeze and
temperatures in the low seventies for the qualifying session, run under the
lights. It rained a little before qualifying, but the track was dry for the session.
The 67-lap/100-mile race is set to get the green flag at 12:30 p.m. Eastern
time tomorrow. Live timing and scoring will be available on indycar.com. The
race is slated to be broadcast on Wednesday, March 28 at 5 p.m. Eastern on
ESPN2.
Andersen Racing is committed to offering a program that gives up-and-coming
drivers the proper training to reach open-wheel racing's major leagues. It
fields multiple cars in the Hankook Tires F2000 Championship, the Star Mazda
Championship presented by Goodyear and the Indy Pro Series. More information
on
the team is available on its Web site at andersenracingteam.com.
Post-qualifying quotes follow:
Andrew Prendeville: "We're happy. The car's balance was real good. It might
have been the best it's been since we got here; it was hard to tell since we
only ran a couple of laps tonight, but it was good.
"I've never qualified on an oval before - ever - or at night, or in an Indy
Pro Series car, so I don't have much to compare it to. But overall it was
cool. We'll see what happens."
Joey Scarallo: "It was OK for the first time. I needed to run a higher line
on the first lap to get up to speed quicker. We used the set-up from this
morning, and the car was fine. I think the car will be good for the race.
"The track is fine. They did a good job drying it. Everything felt fine.
I
went higher than normal on the first lap, but I just didn't run high enough.
That's what I learned this session."