For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
Four Andersen Racing Drivers Finish
Third Through Sixth Saturday;
Dempsey Takes the Podium Spot
MILLVILLE, N.J., Sept. 13 - While gamblers rolled dice in nearby Atlantic
City, four Andersen Racing drivers rolled under the checkered flag in a line with
third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place finishes in the first Star Mazda race
ever held at New Jersey Motorsports Park Saturday afternoon.
Peter Dempsey led the charge for the Palmetto, Fla.-based team in Round 9 of
the series, which is presented by Goodyear. Driving a car that is sponsored
by LotusWorks, Center Jewellers.ie, Quayside.ie, Motorsport Ireland, Allied
Interior Products and Trojan Complete IT Solutions, the three-time winner from
Ashbourne, County Meath, Ireland led a lap before he finished right where he
started in third place. With his father, Cliff Dempsey, looking on, he also set
the second-fastest lap of the race with a lap in 1:16.452 (102.511 miles per
hour).
Valle Makela of Laitila, Finland made an impressive debut with the team when
he started fifth and finished fourth in the 32-lap/45-minute, 23-car race with
his entry, which is sponsored by Amitec and Allied Building Products. He
Andersen Racing's Tom Gladdis of the Isle of Wight and Gibraltar advanced two
spots from his qualifying position to finish fifth in the Marrache & Co. No.
5. Charles Hall also moved up substantially, as the young driver from
Sheffield, England qualified ninth and finished sixth with his car, which is
sponsored by Blimpie, AccentBanking.com, Pardoes Solicitors and Allied Interior
Products. Gladdis and Hall swapped positions during a lively battle and Gladdis even
spun once before it was all over.
Dempsey held the pole for the bulk of the qualifying session Saturday morning
until he pitted to save his Goodyear tires for the race. That allowed Joel
Miller to win the pole, while John Edwards started second and Dempsey powered
off from the standing start in third.
Miller led the race initially and was able to build up a big advantage over
Edwards and Dempsey until lapped traffic allowed them to catch up. Edwards
passed Miller in lapped traffic around lap 22, and shortly thereafter Dempsey got
around them both with a beautiful pass to take the lead.
Dempsey led one lap until Edwards got back by him to push him to second.
Edwards went on to win the race over Miller, who got back by Dempsey later on too.
Dempsey hung on for the podium finish despite the fact that a visor tear-off
had gotten caught in his car's radiator, causing the engine to overheat and
lose power. His impressive drive was also hampered by a backmarker who fought
him until warned to stop by race officials, and by a little contact with
Edwards that compromised the handling of Dempsey's car.
They'll all try again in the second half of the Jersey doubleheader on
Sunday, which begins with qualifying at 9:20 a.m. The standing start for Round 10 is
slated for 2:15 p.m.
After that, only two races remain: Oct. 3 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga.
and Oct. 18 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.
The SPEED TV schedule shows Dempsey's Aug. 23 victory at Mosport airing at 2
p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27. Saturday's race at New Jersey is slated to be
shown at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 5, while Sunday's race is scheduled to be
broadcast at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12. The Road Atlanta race is scheduled to air at
12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18. Laguna Seca's TV time slot is 1:30 p.m. on
Saturday, Nov. 8. All times are Eastern and subject to change; please see
speedtv.com for updates.
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: "I got a great start and I had to make a few moves at the
first corner. Unfortunately Joel braked early and Edwards got me around the
outside, and on the exit we touched and my tracking was knocked out by 4mm. All I
could do was settle for third at that point. Fortunately the front two were
caught in traffic and I took the lead with a really enjoyable move! U
nfortunately the engine was overheating though, so I lost power and dropped back to
third. I would like to thank my sponsors, the team, and all of the team's
sponsors and supporters who attended today."
Valle Makela: "I got a good start and settled in behind Dempsey. After four
or five laps, they upped the pace and I realized that they had just a little
extra pace, so I tried to stay in touch just in case, but making sure I
preserved my fourth place. Then I saw Gladdis behind me and I had to push to make a
gap to him. In the end I was all on my own and developed a gearbox problem,
so I had to nurse the car home."
Tom Gladdis: "I had a really good start, moving up to fifth. I pulled a gap
from Charles and started pushing Valle. I missed a downshift into Turn 9 and
ended up entering too fast and spinning. Charles got by, but I got back past
him going into Turn 1 a few laps later. I started chasing Valle down again
but I just ran out of laps to catch him. I think fourth was the best we could
have hoped for, but fifth is solid. I want to thank Mike Reggio and Dave
DeMarchi and my sponsors, Marrache and Allied, and my parents and the team."
Charles Hall: "We had trouble conserving tires; they went away during the
race. Tomorrow is a new day. We need a little bit of bad luck for some of the
other guys."
The weekend's stats so far:
First Test Session (Friday, 8:15 a.m. to 9:10 a.m.):
1. Joel Miller, 1:16.192, 106.310 mph
2. Peter Dempsey, 1:16.690, 105.620 mph
3. Valle Makela, 1:16.864, 105.381 mph
7. Tom Gladdis, 1:18.299, 103.450 mph
8. Charles Hall, 1:18.532, 103.143 mph
Second Test Session (Friday, 10:55 a.m. to 11:40 a.m.):
1. Peter Dempsey, 1:15.381, 107.454 mph
4. Tom Gladdis, 1:16.314, 106.140 mph
5. Charles Hall, 1:16.403, 106.017 mph
8. Valle Makela, 1:17.120, 105.031 mph
Third Test Session (Friday, 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.):
1. John Edwards, 1:15.653, 107.068 mph
2. Charles Hall, 1:15.765, 106.910 mph
3. Peter Dempsey, 1:15.877, 106.752 mph
4. Tom Gladdis, 1:15.881, 106.746 mph
12. Valle Makela, 1:17.763, 104.163 mph
First Practice Session (Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.):
1. Joel Miller, 1:17.571, 101.033 mph
19. Tom Gladdis, 1:31.888, 85.291 mph
21. Peter Dempsey, no time
22. Valle Makela, no time
23. Charles Hall, no time.
Second Practice Session (Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.):
1. Joel Miller, 1:16.307, 102.706 mph
2. Valle Makela, 1:16.542, 102.391 mph
4. Peter Dempsey, 1:16.986, 101.800 mph
5. Charles Hall, 1:17.300, 101.387 mph
6. Tom Gladdis, 1:17.328, 101.350 mph
Qualifying for Round 9 (Saturday, 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.):
1. Joel Miller, 1:15.677, 103.561 mph
3. Peter Dempsey, 1:16.401, 102.580 mph
5. Valle Makela, 1:17.015, 101.762 mph
7. Tom Gladdis, 1:17.332, 101.345 mph
9. Charles Hall, 1:17.579, 101.022 mph
Round 9 (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.; 32 laps in 41:21.908):
1. John Edwards
2. Joel Miller
3. Peter Dempsey
4. Valle Makela
5. Tom Gladdis
6. Charles Hall
About Allied Building Products Corp.:
Allied Building Products Corp., headquartered in East Rutherford, N.J., is o
ne 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.