For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
Andersen Racing's Daly Battles Back from Spin
To Finish Fifth Sunday in Star Mazda Action at VIR
ALTON, Va., April 27 - Conor Daly's hopes for a top-five finish looked
dismal after a 360-degree spin in the middle of VIRginia International Raceway's
3.27-mile, 17-turn road course Sunday afternoon during the second round of
the 2009 Star Mazda championship presented by Goodyear.
Daly, of Noblesville, Ind., hadn't done anything wrong to get himself in
that perilous position; the Andersen Racing driver spun after a competitor
ahead of him checked up unnecessarily. Still, it was Daly who was in a bad
spot, with the rest of the field scrambling to get around him.
Somehow they all missed him and Daly rejoined the fray in a bizarre, 17-lap
race that had far more yellow-flag laps than green ones.
When he did have the opportunity to go, Daly did. Despite the lack of many
green-flag laps he finished fifth to lead his Palmetto, Fla.-based team's
three entries in the event. Daly's car, the No. 22, is supported by the
MAZDASPEED motorsports driver development program, Indeck, Cytomax, College
Network and Merchant Services.
Mikael Grenier of Stoneham, Quebec, Canada made his first start with the
team in the No. 17, which is sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts, CAA-Quebec and HS
Telecom. He started fourth and finished eighth.
The team's third driver, Denis Navarro of Sao Paulo, Brazil, recorded the
team's best result in qualifying when he was third in the No. 21 sponsored by
Navarro Medicines Distribution and Allied Interior Products. He was just
0.404 of a second off polesitter Adam Christodoulou's new track record.
Unfortunately Navarro had trouble in the race and ended up 19th in the final
rundown.
The next Star Mazda race is May 16 at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele,
Utah. Another Andersen Racing driver, Richard Kent of Clifton Reynes, England,
expects to be back in action with the team for that event.
Andersen Racing is sponsored by Allied Building Products Corp. and Lafarge
North America. It is the official development team of Rahal Letterman
Racing. In addition to Star Mazda, it offers future open-wheel stars programs in
karting, Formula BMW Americas and Firestone Indy Lights. One of its
Firestone Indy Lights drivers, Jonathan Summerton, leads that series' point
standings.
The team's Web site is located at andersenracingteam.com. Information on
the team's 1-mile road course test track at its headquarters can be found
online at andersenracepark.com. The series' Web site is at starmazda.com.
Some post-race quotes follow:
Conor Daly: "My car was excellent in the race; it was the best it's been
all weekend, actually. It's just unfortunate that with all the yellows, I
couldn't make good use of it.
"I was involved in one of the yellows. Heading into Turn 17, somebody up
ahead brake-checked and the whole field stopped. I did a 360-degree spin,
and cars split me left and right. It was definitely not good. I don't know
how everybody missed hitting me, but I was OK. I lost a lot of positions,
but I got going again before the yellow came out for another incident.
"I don't know where I was after the spin; maybe ninth or something. Then I
just picked off about four other drivers ahead of me and ended up fifth.
There weren't many green-flag laps at all."
Mikael Grenier: "It was quite crazy. There were only five green-flag laps
or something like that.
"My car was OK; it had a little understeer, but it was fine, really. I got
passed on the first restart when someone braked at the front.
"It was my first Star Mazda race and my first race at VIR, and considering
everything, I guess qualifying fourth and getting eighth was OK."
The weekend stats:
Test Session 1 (Thursday, 9:40 a.m. to 10:40 a.m.):
1. Adam Christodoulou, 1:47.693, 109.311 mph
3. Conor Daly, 1:48.679, 108.319 mph
10. Mikael Grenier, 1:50.744, 106.299 mph
14. Denis Navarro, 1:51.157, 105.904 mph
Test Session 2 (Thursday, 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.):
1. Adam Christodoulou, 1:47.713, 109.290 mph
10. Conor Daly, 1:49.354, 107.650 mph
14. Denis Navarro, 1:49.597, 107.412 mph
15. Mikael Grenier, 1:50.208, 106.816 mph
Test Session 3 (Thursday, 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.):
1. Adam Christodoulou, 1:47.150, 109.865 mph
6. Conor Daly, 1:48.718, 108.280 mph
8. Mikael Grenier, 1:49.008, 107.992 mph
16. Denis Navarro, 1:49.813, 107.200 mph
Practice 1 (Friday, 12 p.m. to 12:45 p.m.):
1. Adam Christodoulou, 1:46.746, 110.280 mph
3. Conor Daly, 1:47.681, 109.323 mph
4. Denis Navarro, 1:48.020, 108.980 mph
8. Mikael Grenier, 1:48.501, 108.497 mph
Practice 2 (Friday, 5:15 p.m. to 6 p.m.):
1. Adam Christodoulou, 1:46.051, 111.003 mph
4. Mikael Grenier, 1:46.938, 110.082 mph
6. Denis Navarro, 1:47.170, 109.844 mph
7. Conor Daly, 1:47.418, 109.591 mph
Qualifications (Saturday, 8:35 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.):
1. Adam Christodoulou, 1:45.868, 111.195 mph*
3. Denis Navarro, 1:46.272, 110.772 mph
4. Mikael Grenier, 1:46.415, 110.624 mph
6. Conor Daly, 1:46.442, 110.595 mph
* New track record, breaking James Davison's 1:47.607 set in 2007. The top
14 cars in the 28-car field were all under the old mark.
Warm-up (Sunday, 9 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.):
1. Adam Christodoulou, 1:45.873, 111.190 mph
3. Conor Daly, 1:46.431, 110.607 mph
7. Mikael Grenier, 1:47.008, 110.010 mph
13. Denis Navarro, 1:47.335, 109.675 mph
Race (Sunday, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.):
1. Peter Dempsey
5. Conor Daly
8. Mikael Grenier
19. Denis Navarro
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, four-step program
utilizing multiple entries in four different platforms: karting, Formula BMW
Americas, Star Mazda and Firestone Indy Lights (televised on VERSUS). In 2008 it
fielded multiple entries in 42 races in 18 states and provinces at some of
the best facilities on the continent, including the famed Indianapolis Motor
Speedway.
Andersen Racing won the team championship for 2008 for both the F2000
Championship Series presented by Hoosier Racing Tire and the Star Mazda
Championship presented by Goodyear. Two of its drivers finished first and second in
the F2000 driver point standings, while another was sixth. Three of its Star
Mazda drivers placed third, fifth and sixth in that series' driver
standings. RLR/Andersen Racing finished sixth in the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights team
standings, while one of its drivers placed fifth in that series' driver
point standings.
Andersen Racing's principals, brothers 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. and Lafarge
North America. It is the official development team of Rahal Letterman
Racing. The team is headquartered at Andersen RacePark, an 18-acre facility in
Palmetto, Fla. that includes a 1-mile road course test track. For more
information see andersenracingteam.com and andersenracepark.com.