For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
Cell: 317-201-0729
RLR/Andersen's Drivers to Start Fifth and 20th
In First Race Saturday at the Glen
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y., July 4 - RLR/Andersen Racing's Andrew Prendeville and
J.R. Hildebrand will try to join three other Andersen Racing drivers - Star Mazda
pilot Charles Hall and F2000 chauffeurs Anders Krohn and Doug Prendeville -
as winners at Watkins Glen International this year when they compete in twin
Firestone Indy Lights races tomorrow.
Hildebrand will start fifth in the first 29-lapper at 11:15 a.m. Saturday
with his Allied Building Products No. 25 thanks to a lap in 1:38.6933 (122.926
miles per hour) set during SWE Race Car Parts Qualifying Friday on the 11-turn,
3.4-mile road course. He hails from Sausalito, Calif., and Indianapolis.
Andrew Prendeville, a native of Chatham Township, N.J. who now lives in Las
Vegas, will do his best to come from the back with his Best Friends Animal
Society No. 5. He was involved in a crash in qualifying that caused him to end up
20th on the grid with a time of 1:56.4948 (104.142 mph). He went faster than
that during quals, but the rules stipulate that any driver who causes a
full-course caution during qualifying loses his or her fastest lap. Prendeville was
seventh before the accident occurred.
Luckily he was not hurt, and after qualifying he was busy in the paddock
helping the RLR/Andersen Racing crewmembers make repairs to the right side of his
car, which was damaged in the accident that occurred going into the Boot. Doug
Prendeville (his brother and car owner) and Krohn are at the track and they
were helping the hard-working RLR/Andersen crew repair the car too.
The starting line-up for the second half of the Corning Duels will be
determined by the finishing order of the first race, although some of the top spots
may be inverted. That 97.73-mile race will get the green flag at 3:20 p.m.
tomorrow. All times are Eastern.
Friday morning's practice was basically a scrub, as most drivers only
completed one lap. Numerous yellows caused the bulk of practice to be postponed
until the afternoon. The cautions were caused by fog, which prevented the Mercy
Flight medical evacuation helicopter from landing at the track; a problem with
Bobby Wilson's car; and whitetail deer and a skunk on the track.
Things went better in the afternoon practice session. Hildebrand was fifth
in that session and Prendeville was ninth.
ESPN2 will telecast both of tomorrow's races on a tape-delayed basis at 2
p.m. Eastern time July 10.
Following Watkins Glen the circuit moves to Nashville Superspeedway in
Lebanon, Tenn. July 12 and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio July
19-20. The Mid-Ohio event is a doubleheader too, although those races are on
Saturday and Sunday rather than both on one day. Tomorrow marks the first time
in series history when multiple events are being held on the same day.
Andersen Racing is sponsored by Allied Building Products Corp. It is the
official development team of Rahal Letterman Racing.
The team's Web sites are at andersenracingteam.com and andersenracepark.com.
More information on the Firestone Indy Lights series is available at indycar.c
om/lights.
Post-qualifying quotes follow:
J.R. Hildebrand: "The Allied Interior Products car isn't bad. We were a
little confused on how much time we would have at the end of the session. Pretty
much everybody, whether right after the last caution or during the last run,
put on new tires, and we didn't. We would have gained a little bit, but we
stayed on the tires that we started the session on. There's a little bit left
there. From the test day and then coming out here, there were a lot of different
things we were trying to work on. Without both sessions we were still trying
some things in qualifying. It wasn't quite as good as some of the packages
we had, but we'll do some set-up work before the race, and we'll have a faster
car then."
The stats so far:
First Practice (Friday morning; only 1-2 laps completed):
1. Richard Antinucci, 1:48.0424, 112.289 mph
6. Andrew Prendeville, 1:54.4689, 105.985 mph
No time: J.R. Hildebrand
Second Practice (Friday, 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.):
1. Franck Perera, 1:38.7108, 122.904 mph
5. J.R. Hildebrand, 1:39.3583, 122.104 mph
9. Andrew Prendeville, 1:39.6755, 121.715 mph
SWE Race Car Parts Quals (Friday, 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.):
1. Franck Perera, 1:37.8651, 123.967
5. J.R. Hildebrand, 1:38.6933, 122.926 mph
20. Andrew Prendeville, 1:56.4948, 104.142 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.