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Prendeville Qualifies Fourth at Homestead;
How He'll Try to Complete All 67 Laps Saturday
For Racing Laps for Best Friends
HOMESTEAD, Fla., March 28 - After a successful first PetStop Thursday
afternoon at Miami Dade Animal Services in Miami, Andrew Prendeville qualified fourth
Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway for Saturday's season opener of the
2008 Firestone Indy Light Series.
That's the new name of the group of races in which Prendeville competes in
the Best Friends Animal Society No. 5. The series' name was changed from the
Indy Pro Series earlier this week.
Now Prendeville will try his best to finish all 67 laps of tomorrow
afternoon's Firestone Indy Lights race here so that the Best Friends Animal Society
makes as much money as possible from his Racing Laps for Best Friends program.
Through a Web site at racinglapsforbestfriends.com, fans make pledges to that
not-for-profit animal welfare organization based on the number of laps
Prendeville completes in his events. Donations may be made in any amount per lap,
starting at 25 cents.
With the great qualifying result, Prendeville certainly is off to a good start
here at Homestead. Qualifying results were based on the total time elapsed
during two laps of the 1.5-mile oval under the clock. Prendeville ran his two
laps in 28.7100 and 28.7573 seconds, respectively, for a total time of 57.4673
seconds to qualify fourth at an average speed of 186.054 miles per hour.
He'll start on the outside of Row 2 Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, beside
Sean Guthrie. Polesitter Raphael Matos and Dillon Battistini will be the only
ones ahead of Guthrie and Prendeville when the 23-driver field gets the green
flag.
Prendeville actually had the pole for a bit Friday night until Battistini
edged ahead. Matos's and Guthrie's runs came even later in the qualifying order.
"For a little bit I was on the pole, but by the time I got my helmet off I
was second, and I ended up fourth," Prendeville said.
"I thought it was a good run; it was a lot better than we did in qualifying
here last year," he added. "Last year we started 21st and finished fifth in
the race.
"Last year we ran well in a lot of the races but we didn't always qualify
well," he said. "This year we really wanted to qualify better, and tonight we
did. The RLR/Andersen team is doing a great job."
Prendeville set the fastest lap of anyone in the two practice sessions prior
to qualifying to rule those sessions. His fastest practice lap was a 28.6783
for an average speed of 186.413 mph, set in the first practice session Friday.
Now he'll do his best to finish all 67 laps of Saturday's race for those fans
who make pledges at racinglapsforbestfriends.com.
Fans can also make pledges at the PetStops Prendeville is conducting this
year in the areas in which he races across the country. Miami Dade Animal
Services was the first shelter to host such an event, which occurred on Thursday.
Fans met Prendeville, saw his race car, and perused Best Friends merchandise and
educational materials. Pet adoptions, a rabies clinic and tours of the
shelter were also offered. Raffle tickets with prizes of sessions at the Bertil
Roos Racing School were also available.
Tomorrow afternoon's race will be covered live on the Internet at
indycar.com/pro, and also at 4 p.m. April 3 on ESPN2. All times are Eastern.
Another PetStop will be staged at the SPCA Tampa Bay, 9099 130th Ave. N. in
Largo, Fla. from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 3. Prendeville will
compete in two Firestone Indy Lights races on the street circuit in St. Petersburg,
Fla. on April 5-6.
All "PetStop" shelter appearances are free and the public is encouraged to
attend.
"The main purpose of the PetStops are to encourage adoptions and volunteerism
at local shelters, to help people become more aware of the work of their
local shelters and Best Friends, to provide exposure to the Racing Laps for Best
Friends program, and to promote the IndyCar and Firestone Indy Lights races,"
Prendeville said.
Best Friends' Web site is at bestfriends.org.