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Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
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E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
Dempsey Posts First Victory in America;
Hall Is Third and Gladdis Places Fifth
For Andersen Racing Saturday at Road America
ELKHART LAKE, Wis., Aug. 9 - Andersen Racing's Peter Dempsey was not to be
denied Saturday at Road America. The 22-year-old from Ashbourne, Country Meath,
Ireland became the third driver from the Palmetto, Fla.-based team to win a
race in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear this year when he
posted a 0.516-second victory over polesitter John Edwards in Round 6 of 12
events.
Dempsey started second and took the lead on lap three the first time. He was
able to build up big advantages only to have them disappear when full-course
yellows waved, but he was able to withstand all threats during each restart -
except for one. In a real heart-stopper for the team and the companies that
sponsor Dempsey - LotusWorks, Center Jewellers.ie, Quayside.ie, Allied Interior
Products and Trojan Complete IT Solutions - Edwards edged ahead of him to lead
the white-flag lap. Dempsey got him back on the final circuit, however, to
post his first victory in America.
Dempsey set the fastest lap of the race when he was timed in 2:07.557
(114.245 miles per hour) on lap 12 of the 16 circuits of the 4.048-mile road course
that were completed during the event's 45-minute time limit. That was almost a
full second faster than the best lap of the second-fastest driver in the
race, Edwards.
Another Andersen Racing driver, Charles Hall of Sheffield, England, who was
the winner at Watkins Glen, N.Y. on June 7, finished third Saturday in the No.
77 that carries the colors of Blimpie, AccentBanking.com, Pardoes Solicitors
and Allied Interior Products. He started fifth in the 24-car field. He was as
high as second on lap four, but then dropped to fourth on the following
circuit when both Edwards and Joel Miller got around him. He slipped to fifth on
lap 11 when Alex Ardoin did the same, but he got Ardoin back on the next lap to
regain fourth. Ardoin advanced from fifth to third on the next-to-last lap to
push Hall to fifth, but then Miller had problems and Hall was able to repass
Ardoin for the final podium spot on the last lap.
Andersen Racing's Tom Gladdis, who hails from the Isle of Wight and
Gibraltar, started third and finished fifth with his Marrache & Co. No. 5. Gladdis,
who won the first half of the Portland doubleheader on July 26, dropped to
eighth on lap three but then passed Scott Rettich and Caio Lara and ran in sixth
place for most of race. He advanced one more spot on the last lap to become the
third Andersen Racing driver in the top five Saturday.
Natalia Kowalska, who was making her first start ever with the team, started
11th, immediately moved into ninth, but then dropped back to 11th on lap four.
She passed Billy Goshen on lap eight to move back into the top 10, but then
dropped to 18th on lap 12 when she and Ernesto Otero made contact. The young
lady from Biesiekierz, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland pitted for repairs
and then returned to the fray, advancing five spots in the last two laps to
finish 13th with her No. 33 that is sponsored by Natan Developers.
Unofficially Hall has regained the point lead over Alex Ardoin, 211 to 202.
Miller is third; Dempsey is fourth and Gladdis is fifth. Each driver's best 11
of 12 finishes count for the championship.
Again unofficially, Andersen Racing leads the team point standings with 190
points to JDC Motorsports' 141.
The Road America race, which supported the Generac 500 American Le Mans
Series race, will be televised on SPEED on a tape-delayed basis. The latest TV
schedules are posted on starmazda.com and speedtv.com.
Now the circuit moves to Trois-Rivieres, Quebec for a race next Sunday, Aug.
17. Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario follows 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-race quotes follow:
Peter Dempsey: "It was brilliant! I took the lead in Turn 5 on a restart.
Edwards passed me at the end, but I got him back on the last lap.
"I've never led a race where I was able to build up such a big lead. I'd
pull away and look back, and there wasn't anybody close behind me. I thought,
'My, this is easy!' Then the yellow would come out and they'd be right behind me
again.
"It's great to get a win though. The team worked so hard to change the engine
before qualifying, so I really want to give a huge thank you to everyone at
Andersen Racing. Roger and the crew worked so hard, and the car ran perfect. I
want to thank my sponsors too, as well as Mazda and Goodyear."
Charles Hall: "I got third, but it feels like I won. I had a good car in
practice, and then we had the problem with the wing in qualifying. Today I just
tried to keep my nose clean. It paid off, and now we have the points lead
again.
"Joel Miller had some sort of a problem near the end; I don't know what
happened, but he dropped back. Then Alex Ardoin made a mistake and I was able to
pass him on the outside in the Carousel."
Tom Gladdis: "It was OK. There was a lot of blocking going on. I'm not
entirely happy because I thought we could do better than fifth today, but we'll
keep chipping away at it."
Natalia Kowalska: "My car was pretty good. I had an incident with Ernesto
Otero; it broke my front wing while we were battling for P7. I pitted for that,
and luckily a full-course caution came out so I didn't lose a lap. Then I came
back to finish 13th. I advanced five positions in the last two laps, so I
thought that was good.
"It was my first time ever at Road America. It has a lot of high-speed turns,
which I like."
Sunday's stats:
Round 6 (Saturday, 2:25 p.m. to 3:10 p.m.):
1. Peter Dempsey*
3. Charles Hall
5. Tom Gladdis
13. Natalia Kowalska
* - Set fastest race lap with a 2:07.557 (114.245 miles per hour).
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.