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Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
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E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
Romancini Finishes Tenth
For RLR/Andersen Racing
Saturday at Kentucky Speedway
SPARTA, Ky., Aug. 1 - All three RLR/Andersen Racing Firestone Indy Lights
cars emerged unscathed from Saturday's Kentucky 100 at Kentucky Speedway,
which is a blessing to their mechanics since they'll all be in action next week
at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Mario Romancini recorded the best
results for the team by finishing tenth, while his teammates, Ali Jackson and
Pablo Donoso, finished 14th and 16th, respectively.
More than a day of practice time was lost due to weepers on the track
surface, and the team only had 50 minutes of practice less than three hours
before the race to come up with a good set-up.
Romancini started third but immediately vaulted into second when the
polesitter and point leader, J.R. Hildebrand, had to retire when his car lost oil
pressure. Romancini's No. 5, which is sponsored by Andersen Racing, Revita
Recycling, Win Brazil Marketing, Allied Interior Products and Lafarge North
America, was able to stay in second place behind Sebastian Saavedra's car for
the first 10 laps, but then Romancini was passed by James Hinchcliffe on
lap 11 and dropped to third. The driver from Sao Paulo, Brazil, who has
thrilled fans with his high-flying moves on the outside in earlier oval-track
races this year, tried his best but he was unable to find any grip on that
part of the track Saturday. He remained in third place, and was just 0.4007 of
a second behind Hinchcliffe until three cars running in a draft charged by
him to push him to sixth on lap 15.
Daniel Herrington edged ahead of him on lap 17 to push him to seventh, and
Andrew Prendeville passed him on the next lap to relegate him to eighth. He
maintained that position until Mike Potekhen got by him on lap 24. Potekhen
fell back two spots on lap 28 to give Romancini eighth back, but he was in
ninth again at the halfway point of the 67-lap race after Martin Plowman
passed him on lap 32. Plowman went on to finish in ninth, right ahead of
Romancini, and Plowman set the fastest lap of the race on lap 11 when he turned
the 1.5-mile trioval in 27.7277 seconds for an average speed of 192.154 miles
per hour.
Romancini held ninth from lap 32 through lap 51, when Potekhen and Brandon
Wagner edged ahead of him to push him to 11th. Romancini repassed Wagner on
lap 54 for tenth, and remained in that spot until Wade Cunningham took the
checkered flag ahead of Saavedra and Ana Beatriz under caution for the
victory after 67 laps of competition.
Jackson, of Moyvalley, County Kildare, Ireland, started eighth and stayed
in that position in the early going before slipping to 12th by lap nine. He
then advanced one spot, and was running 11th to Donoso's 12th on lap 11. The
pair switched positions on the next lap and ran that way until lap 14, when
Jackson regained 11th and Richard Philippe muscled between Jackson and
Donoso.
Jackson remained in 11th until lap 18 when Wagner edged ahead of him. He
had dropped to 13th by lap 20 but he stayed in that spot until lap 62 when
Rodrigo Barbosa pushed him to 14th. That's where he finished with his No. 9,
which is sponsored by Moyvalley Golf and Hotel Resort and Allied Interior
Products.
Donoso had the biggest challenge ahead of him at the beginning of the race
since the native of Santiago, Chile started 19th and last. He had already
moved to 12th by the end of lap one after Pippa Mann spun on the warm-up lap,
Hildebrand pulled into the pits, Charlie Kimball and Gustavo Yacaman spun
entering Turn 4 on the first lap, and Donoso passed Potekhen, Wagner and
Barbosa.
He stayed in 12th place until he passed Jackson for 11th on lap 11.
Struggling with an ill-handling car, he remained in that spot for two more laps
before he started drifting backwards and brought the No. 6, which is sponsored
by Andersen Racing, Allied Interior Products and Donoso LTDA, home
unscathed in 16th position. He also won a $2,500 bonus from Firestone in a
post-race draw among the drivers finishing outside of the top 10.
Jackson ran the fastest race lap of the Palmetto, Fla.-based team's three
drivers when he was timed in 27.9789 seconds for an average speed of 190.429
mph on lap 10. Romancini wasn't far behind with a 28.002 (190.284 mph) on
lap nine. Donoso's fastest lap was also lap 10, when he did a 28.2095 for an
average speed of 188.873 mph.
The event was the 100th Firestone Indy Lights race sanctioned by the Indy
Racing League.
The race will be broadcast on a taped-delayed basis on Monday at 4 p.m.
Eastern time on VERSUS. That telecast will include a special feature on
Romancini.
Hildebrand still leads the point standings, and now has 385 points to
Saavedra's 343. Cunningham moves into third with the victory with 322 points.
Romancini breaks a tie with Hinchcliffe for fourth, although both have 293
points.
Neither Donoso nor Jackson has run all the races. Donoso is 16th in the
point standings and Jackson is 18th.
All of Andersen Racing's race cars have been sporting the logo of Best
Friends Animal Society as a salute to that not-for-profit animal welfare group,
which celebrated its 25th anniversary in July. The donated signage draws
attention to Best Friends' quarter century of service to the welfare of
abused, abandoned animals at its 3,700-acre sanctuary in southwestern Utah, and
for its on-going work across the United States. Best Friends' No More Homeless
Pets program includes national campaigns in key American cities to address
the problems of saving pit bull dogs, speaking out against puppy mills,
addressing the problem of cat overpopulation and striving that one day there
will be no more homeless pets. More information on the organization can be
obtained at bestfriends.org.
For more information on Andersen Racing, which is sponsored by Allied
Interior Products and Lafarge North America and offers programs in karting and
Star Mazda in addition to Firestone Indy Lights, see its Web site at
andersenracingteam.com. For more information on its 1-mile road course test track in
Palmetto, Fla., see andersenracepark.com.
The series' Web site is at indycar.com/indylights.
Driver post-race quotes:
Mario Romancini: "We thought we had a set-up that would work, but it
didn't. After the pack went by me on lap 15, there was nothing I could do. I
just couldn't pass anybody back.
"The track was bumpy and slippery too. There was no grip on the outside. I
tried to run high and pass people, but there was just no grip up there.
"We just didn't have time to find a good set-up. Now I'm fourth in the
championship.
"We've got to keep working hard. We have another race next weekend."
Ali Jackson: "The balance of the car wasn't too bad. I think all of us
were just lacking speed today.
"I was happy to finish. This is my third oval race and the first one I
finished, so I got some good experience today.
"The track was good considering all the rain we had.
"I didn't have any close calls, except when I was on cold tires....and
drafting at 190 miles per hour. I was running on my own for a lot of the race
though."
Pablo Donoso: "I'm very disappointed. I think we missed the set-up, but I
also think there's something else we're missing. The track was the same for
everybody, so it wasn't that. We'll have to go over the data and try to
figure out what we're missing, and try to do better at Mid-Ohio."
Saturday's stats:
Practice (3:15 p.m. to 4:05 p.m.):
1. Ana Beatriz, 27.5826 seconds, 193.165 mph, lap 51 of 55
16. Mario Romancini, 28.1692, 189.143 mph, lap 36 of 44
17. Ali Jackson, 28.2431, 188.648 mph, lap 46 of 62
18. Pablo Donoso, 28.4523, 187.261 mph, lap 47 of 55
Race (67 laps, 6 p.m.):
1. Wade Cunningham (started fourth)
10. Mario Romancini (started third)
14. Ali Jackson (started eighth)
16. Pablo Donoso (started 19th)
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 the Lafarge Group:
The Lafarge Group is the world leader in building materials, with
top-ranking positions in all of its businesses: cement, aggregates and concrete, and
gypsum. With 83,000 employees in 78 countries, the Group posted sales of
19.0 billion Euros in 2008.
Lafarge North America Inc. ("Lafarge North America" or "Lafarge"), a
Lafarge Group company, is the largest diversified supplier of construction
materials in the United States and Canada.
In 2009 and for the fifth year in a row, the Lafarge Group was listed in
the "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World." With the
world's leading building materials research facility, the Lafarge Group places
innovation at the heart of its priorities, working for sustainable construction
and architectural creativity.
For more information about Lafarge North America, go to lafarge-na.com or
contact Louise Muth, director of external communications, at (703) 480-3707.
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 program utilizing multiple
entries in three different platforms: karting, 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.