For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
Andersen Racing's Gladdis Says 'Oh Yes I Can'
And Wins First Half of Star Mazda Doubleheader at Portland Saturday
PORTLAND, Ore., July 26 - Apparently if Tom Gladdis is forced to stay out of
the cockpit of his Andersen Racing No. 5 Star Mazda car for any reason, he's
even more determined to put his foot to the floor the next time he's behind the
wheel.
The 17-year-old Gibraltar resident from the Isle of Wight, England wasn't
allowed to compete in the last Star Mazda race, held at Watkins Glen
International, due to New York state laws prohibiting drivers under the age of 18 from
competing there.
If that wasn't bad enough, Gladdis got a case of food poisoning at a test at
Canada's Mosport International Raceway after the Watkins Glen race, forcing
him to miss the second day of that test.
The time he spent out of the car made him all the more determined to make up
for lost laps in the first half of a weekend doubleheader at Portland
International Raceway Saturday. In the morning he earned his first pole in the series,
which is presented by Goodyear, and then in the afternoon he won his first
Star Mazda race when he beat Alex Ardoin to the line by 1.648 seconds in a
34-lap/45-minute contest on Portland's 1.977-mile road course. Billy Goshen placed
third.
The lap Gladdis ran to earn the pole was timed in 1:08.936 (103.244 miles per
hour), which wasn't quite as fast as Pablo Donoso ran to earn the track
qualifying record here in 2005 in another Andersen Racing car. Gladdis also set the
fastest lap of the race with a 1:09.942 (101.759 mph) with his No. 5, which
is sponsored by Marrache & Co., the international law firm of Gibraltar.
One of Gladdis's Andersen Racing teammates, Peter Dempsey, started third and
got by him at the start. Dempsey, who is entertaining a new sponsor here,
LotusWorks, in addition to Center Jewellers.ie, Quayside.ie, Allied Interior
Products and Trojan Complete IT Solutions, led laps two through 23 with Gladdis
right behind him until Dempsey's car suffered possible fuel pick-up problems and
sputtered to a stop. Gladdis went on to win, while all Dempsey got for his
equally brilliant drive was 24th place in the field of 30, much to the chagrin
of all those sponsors and his fans back home in Ashbourne, County Meath,
Ireland.
The third driver representing the Palmetto, Fla.-based team at Portland,
point leader Charles Hall, didn't even get that far on Saturday. His car, which is
sponsored by Blimpie, AccentBanking.com, Pardoes Solicitors and Allied
Interior Products, was hit in the rear at the start and the driver from Sheffield,
England didn't complete a single lap of Saturday's race.
They'll all try again tomorrow, with qualifying at 10 a.m. local time and the
second half of the doubleheader following at 2 p.m. local time. SPEED will
show both races at noon Eastern on Aug. 9, the same day the Star Mazda
contingent will be competing at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
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.
Some post-race quotes follow:
Tom Gladdis: "Peter got a really good start and passed me. He was in front
for 23 laps, and then he slowed down in Turn 6 and I retook the lead.
"I had some problems with lapped traffic. Near the end Ardoin was pushing me
because by that point my tires were pretty much shot. But I still had more
than a 1.5-second lead over him at the end, and I set the fastest race lap too.
"Not getting to drive at Watkins Glen and the food poisoning at Mosport made
me more determined than ever. I was determined to get back in the car and do
well.
"We were the only ones to break the 1.08-second mark in qualifying, and the
only ones to break the 1.09-second mark during the race. I want to thank
everyone at Andersen Racing, especially my engineer, Mike Reggio, and my mechanic,
Dave DeMarchi; my parents; my sponsors; Mazda and Goodyear."
Charles Hall: "It happened in the first corner of the first lap. I got a
good, clean start. [John] Edwards must have had clutch problems. I went on
drivers' right, everybody else went on drivers' left, and I got hit in the rear.
"I ended up in a concrete retaining wall. It wasn't a really hard hit, but it
was hard enough to do some damage."
The weekend stats so far:
Test Session 1 (Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.):
1. Charles Hall, 1:10.802, 100.523 mph
5. Tom Gladdis, 1:11.285, 99.841 mph
7. Peter Dempsey, 1:11.489, 99.557 mph
Test Session 2 (Thursday, 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.):
1. John Edwards, 1:09.953, 101.743 mph
2. Tom Gladdis, 1:10.448, 101.028 mph
4. Charles Hall, 1:10.628, 100.770 mph
6. Peter Dempsey, 1:10.964, 100.293 mph
Official Practice Session 1 (Friday, 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.):
1. John Edwards, 1:09.348, 102.630 mph
2. Peter Dempsey, 1:09.479, 102.437 mph
3. Tom Gladdis, 1:09.661, 102.169 mph
6. Charles Hall, 1:09.904, 101.814 mph
Official Practice Session 2 (Friday, 1:15 p.m. to 2 p.m.):
1. Tom Gladdis, 1:09.967, 101.722 mph
2. Charles Hall, 1:10.095, 101.536 mph
5. Peter Dempsey, 1:10.641, 100.752 mph
Qualifying for First Portland Race (Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.):
1. Tom Gladdis, 1:08.936, 103.244 mph
3. Peter Dempsey, 1:09.361, 102.611 mph
6. Charles Hall, 1:09.877, 101.853 mph
First Portland Race (Saturday, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.):
1. Tom Gladdis
24. Peter Dempsey
29. Charles Hall
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.