For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
Three Andersen Racing Drivers Are in Top Five
In Star Mazda Quals Friday at Road America;
Dempsey and Gladdis to Start Second and Third
ELKHART LAKE, Wis., Aug. 8 - Three Andersen Racing drivers qualified in the
top five in Star Mazda action Friday afternoon at Road America, and the fourth
one was only 0.130 of a second out of making the top 10.
Peter Dempsey led the way for the Palmetto, Fla.-based team, qualifying
second with a time of 2:05.540 for an average speed of 116.081 miles per hour for
the 4.048-mile road course. That was just 0.227 of a second longer than John
Edwards took to win the pole. Dempsey, of Ashbourne, Country Meath, Ireland,
drives the No. 21 that advertises LotusWorks, Center Jewellers.ie, Quayside.ie,
Allied Interior Products and Trojan Complete IT Solutions. He missed the last
practice session while the team changed his car's engine, but he made quick
work of qualifying with excellent results.
Qualifying just 0.288 of a second behind Dempsey was one of his teammates,
Tom Gladdis of the Isle of Wight and Gibraltar. His Marrache & Co. No. 5 had a
qualifying time of 2:05.828 (115.815 mph) for the race, the sixth round of a
12-race series that is presented by Goodyear.
Joel Miller qualified fourth, but Andersen Racing's Charles Hall was fifth
with a time of 2:06.250 (115.428 mph) with his No. 77. Hall, of Sheffield,
England, is sponsored by Blimpie, AccentBanking.com, Pardoes Solicitors and Allied
Interior Products.
Making her first start with Andersen Racing, Natalia Kowalska qualified 11th
with a time of 2:07.424 (114.365 mph). A native of Biesiekierz, West
Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, her No. 33 is sponsored by Natan Developers.
Four of the five Andersen Racing drivers posted their fastest qualifying lap
during their fourth circuit in that session. Hall's best lap was his fifth
one.
Fans can watch Gladdis win a recent Star Mazda race in Portland on tomorrow
(Saturday) at noon Eastern on SPEED. Live timing and scoring of the Road
America race is slated for imsaracing.net from 2:25 p.m. to 3:10 p.m. Central time
(3:25 p.m. to 4:10 p.m. Eastern) tomorrow. The Road America race is scheduled
to be televised on SPEED at noon Eastern on Aug. 23.
After Road America the circuit moves to Trois-Rivieres, Quebec for a race
next Sunday, Aug. 17, and then Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville,
Ontario on Saturday, Aug. 23. A doubleheader at the brand-new New Jersey
Motorsports Park Sept. 13-14, a race at Road Atlanta Oct. 3 and the season finale at
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Oct. 18 round out the 2008 schedule.
Andersen Racing is sponsored by Allied Building Products Corp. It is the
official development team of Rahal Letterman Racing. For more information see
andersenracingteam.com, andersenracepark.com and starmazda.com.
Post-qualifying quotes follow:
Peter Dempsey: "It's great! We decided to change the engine, and everybody
worked hard to get it changed. They really scrambled, but everything came
together. I want to give a huge 'thank you' to everyone at Andersen Racing; be sure
you put that in because they really worked hard. I didn't have any radio and
the dash wasn't working so I didn't know how we were doing, but it's great to
qualify second after the problems we had at Portland."
Tom Gladdis: "It went fairly well, but I was hoping to get the pole. I
didn't really get a good enough gap in traffic though; sometimes that happens. So
considering that, we're pretty pleased with third."
Charles Hall: "We're doing OK. The car is pretty good. We had a problem with
the front-wing adjuster that caused us to pick up a little bit of understeer.
Hopefully we'll finish well tomorrow, and earn a lot of points."
Natalia Kowalska: "Basically I only had four sessions to get used to things,
so I was pretty far behind everyone. It's a very good car. We had a problem
with our front-wing adjuster in qualifying though. Traffic also played a role;
I only got a few laps in and then they had a red flag. Without those
problems I think we could have been in P7."
The weekend stats so far:
Test Session 1 (Thursday, 10:10 a.m. to 10:40 a.m.):
1. Tom Gladdis, 2:06.910, 114.828 mph
4. Charles Hall, 2:07.763, 114.061 mph
6. Peter Dempsey, 2:08.071, 113.787 mph
20. Natalia Kowalska, 2:14.117, 108.657 mph
Test Session 2 (Thursday, 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.):
1. Joel Miller, 2:08.248, 113.630 mph
3. Charles Hall, 2:08.497, 113.410 mph
4. Tom Gladdis, 2:08.547, 113.366 mph
13. Peter Dempsey, 2:13.339, 109.291 mph
19. Natalia Kowalska, 2:15.876, 107.251 mph
Official Practice 1 (Thursday, 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.):
1. John Edwards, 2:06.334, 115.351 mph)
3. Tom Gladdis, 2:06.744, 114.978 mph
5. Charles Hall, 20:07.144, 114.616 mph
9. Peter Dempsey, 2:07.881, 113.956 mph
16. Natalia Kowalska, 2:09.539, 112.497 mph
Official Practice 2 (Friday, 12 p.m. to 12:45 p.m.):
1. John Edwards, 2:05.275, 116.326 mph
2. Charles Hall, 2:05.528, 116.092 mph
3. Tom Gladdis, 2:05.739, 115.897 mph
14. Natalia Kowalska, 2:07.932, 113.911 mph
24. Peter Dempsey, no time.
Qualifying (Saturday, 2:25 p.m. to 3:10 p.m.):
1. John Edwards, 2:05.313, 116.291 mph
2. Peter Dempsey, 2:05.540, 116.081 mph
3. Tom Gladdis, 2:05.828, 115.815 mph
5. Charles Hall, 2:06.250, 115.428 mph
11. Natalia Kowalska, 2:07.424, 114.365 mph
About Allied Building Products Corp.:
Allied Building Products Corp., headquartered in East Rutherford, N.J., is
one of the largest roofing and siding distributors in the United States. Founded
in 1950 with five employees and two trucks, today it is a $1.8 billion
building material distribution company with over 3,500 employees, more than 200
branches in 30 states, well over one million square feet of office and warehouse
space, and an inventory of approximately 85,000 products, from residential
roofing and siding to doors, windows, waterproofing, manufactured stone, interior
products and commercial roofing systems. For more information see
alliedbuilding.com.
About Andersen Racing:
Andersen Racing strives to provide the best and most comprehensive training
possible for future open-wheel superstars while giving its marketing partners
media exposure and hospitality opportunities at some of the most prestigious
events in North America. It provides a unique, three-step program utilizing
multiple entries in three different series: the F2000 Championship (webcast), Star
Mazda (televised on SPEED) and Firestone Indy Lights (televised on ESPN2). In
2008 it will field multiple entries in 42 races in 19 states and provinces at
some of the best facilities on the continent, including the famed
Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Andersen Racing's principals, brother Dan and John Andersen, have extensive
experience in series administration as well as team management. They've worked
with many of today's top open-wheel stars, including several Indy 500 winners.
Andersen Racing is sponsored by Allied Building Products Corp. It is the
official development team of Rahal Letterman Racing, which competes in the IndyCar
Series. In addition, its F2000 team is also the official factory team of Van
Diemen. The team is headquartered at Andersen RacePark, an 18-acre facility
in Palmetto, Fla. that includes a 1-mile test track. For more information see
andersenracingteam.com and andersenracepark.com.