For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
D'Agostino Named to Drive
Fourth Andersen Racing Star Mazda Car
At Sebring's Season Opener
With Sponsorship from Classic Mazda
PALMETTO, Fla., March 15 - Joe D'Agostino can't quit smiling.
Why is he so happy?
After two years with limited opportunities to race, he'll be driving a car
prepared by the 2008 championship-winning team, Andersen Racing, at the 2009
Star Mazda season opener this Friday at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring,
Fla.
The Brownsburg, Ind.-based driver sees it as a perfect opportunity to get
back into the form that saw him record six top-10 finishes in the Atlantic series
in 2006 driving for Newman/Wachs Racing.
D'Agostino won the prestigious Team USA Scholarship in 2004. He'll join one
of the 2008 winners of the same scholarship, Conor Daly of Noblesville, Ind.,
under the Andersen Racing tent in the paddock at Sebring this week, as well as
two other top drivers: Richard Kent of Clifton Reynes, England, and Denis
Navarro of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
D'Agostino will represent Classic Mazda of Orlando, Fla. while he's racing at
Sebring, and his deal is currently for just that one race. However, with a
full month between the season opener and the second race of the year, both he
and the Palmetto, Fla.-based team hope that additional funding can be found so
D'Agostino can join Daly, Kent and Navarro at Andersen Racing for the entire
Star Mazda championship, which is presented by Goodyear.
"What a dream to be driving for Andersen Racing! I am also very proud to have
Classic Mazda as my sponsor for Sebring, and hope that during the event we
can turn some heads in the best way possible," D'Agostino said. "I think I'm
with the best team in the paddock, and the chemistry is very evident. Hopefully
we can put something together for the season, but for now our focus is on
Sebring. A big thanks to Andersen Racing and everyone involved who helped make
this happen. It's great to be back!"
"I have known Joe for about a year, and have known of his reputation as a
driver for many more years," said Andersen Racing co-owner Dan Andersen. "His
exploits in Europe definitely proved his abilities, and his work with my organiza
tion over the past year has convinced me that this fine young man is
deserving of another chance to showcase his skills. I believe he can win early and
often in the Star Mazda championship, and though for now this is just a
'one-off,' we are working hard to secure the necessary backing for Joe to run with
Andersen Racing the entire season. He is the real deal."
Classic Mazda's sponsorship of D'Agostino's Andersen Racing No. 5 got off to
a rousing start last Friday when his Star Mazda car, the SpeedSource Mazda
RX-8 Grand-Am car and the Dyson Racing BP/Mazda ALMS LMP2 show car were displayed
at a special promotion at the dealership attended by approximately 400
people.
Now D'Agostino will take that enthusiasm to Sebring as he tries to record a
good finish in Friday's 45-minute race, which begins at 3:55 p.m. and is
preceded by practice sessions beginning Monday morning and qualifying at 1:45 p.m.
on Thursday.
His teammates will be doing their best, too. Daly would like nothing better
than to win his first Star Mazda race as a preliminary event to the Twelve
Hours of Sebring, which his father, Derek, won in 1990 and 1991 after making it to
Formula 1, a level his eldest son also aspires to reach.
Kent, who dominated the 2008 Star Mazda season finale at California's Mazda
Raceway Laguna Seca in his first start with Andersen Racing, will be trying to
start 2009 the same way he finished 2008.
Navarro will be making his first Star Mazda appearance, but he tested well
with the team in the off-season. He will be representing the South American
Formula 3 championship, where he finished third last year with four victories and
four pole positions.
It won't be all work, though. The team will celebrate at least two birthdays
while at Sebring, as Navarro will turn 22 on Tuesday and D'Agostino will turn
24 on Wednesday.
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 fields cars in karting, Formula BMW Americas and
Firestone Indy Lights.
D'Agostino's bio will be posted shortly on the team's Web site at
andersenracingteam.com. Information on the team's 1-mile road course test track at its
headquarters in Palmetto, Fla. can be found online at andersenracepark.com.
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 90,000 employees in 76 countries, the Group posted sales of 17.6
billion Euros and net income of 1.9 billion Euros in 2007. 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.
The Lafarge Group is the only company in the construction materials sector to
be listed in the 2008 "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.
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 (televised on SPEED) 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. R
LR/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,
which competes in the IndyCar Series and the American Le Mans Series. 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.