For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
RLR/Andersen Racing's Romancini
Leads Every Lap at Milwaukee Sunday
WEST ALLIS, Wis., May 31 - Polesitter Mario Romancini led all 100 laps of
the Husar's House of Fine Diamonds 100 Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile to give
RLR/Andersen Racing its second Firestone Indy Lights victory ever.
The 21-year-old driver from Sao Paulo, Brazil impressed everyone with his
come-from-behind podium finish at the Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway nine days ago. This time the rookie made the crowd on hand in
Milwaukee take notice of his total domination of the event, even though he never
turned a lap here before Saturday morning's first practice session and this
was only his third oval-track race ever.
Romancini's No. 5, which is sponsored by Andersen Racing, Revita Recycling,
Win Brazil Marketing, Allied Interior Products and Lafarge North America,
had a 1.0907-second advantage over a former RLR/Andersen Racing driver, J.R.
Hildebrand, when the checkered waved after 100 laps of competition on the
tight, 1.015-mile oval.
Romancini also set the fastest lap of the race when his lap 13 took 25.3397
seconds for an average speed of 144.201 miles per hour.
There were four caution flags for 17 laps, two of which involved the other
RLR/Andersen Racing driver in the race, Jonathan Summerton of Kissimmee,
Fla. Although he qualified third, he ended up 16th.
His problems started when another competitor touched his No. 9, which
advertises Give Kids the World, Allied Interior Products and Lafarge North
America, on a restart on lap five, sending him spinning in Turn 4. Somehow he
kept the car off the wall, never lost a lap and persevered. He dropped from
third to 15th but he was able to charge back up to tenth despite a vibration
and flat-spotted Firestone Firehawks from the spin. The compromised rubber
finally gave out when a tire blew on lap 50, sending him into the Turn 1 wall.
Luckily he wasn't hurt.
The other two yellows were for Martin Plowman stalling on the frontstretch
after the initial start, and for Daniel Herrington's accident on the
frontstretch on lap 86. That gave Hildebrand one more chance to get by Romancini
on the restart, but the Brazilian rebuffed all comers.
Romancini was lapping cars by lap 15. He lapped clear up to ninth place.
He had about a 1-second to 1.5-second lead over Hildebrand for most of the
race, although he stretched his advantage to 2.1024 seconds on lap 20. The
closest Hildebrand got to Romancini on green-flag laps was 0.2722 of a second
behind him on lap 71, but Romancini had padded his advantage to 1.4914
seconds seven laps later. Romancini's 2.4435-second advantage over Hildebrand on
lap 85 was washed out when the last caution flew on lap 86, but there was a
lapped car between the top pair on the restart on lap 91 and Romancini
continued to be able to walk away from all comers until the checkered flew on
lap 100.
Summerton was one of the first to congratulate Romancini in victory lane.
Romancini showed similar team spirit when he pulled number 16 in a special
drawing that Firestone stages after each race. Since that's the position in
which Summerton finished, Summerton will get a bonus $2,500 from Firestone to
aid his racing efforts.
The race is scheduled to be shown on VERSUS at 4 p.m. Eastern on Monday.
With the victory Romancini moves from eighth to third in the championship,
just 20 points out of the lead. Summerton is now fifth in the point
standings.
The next race is June 20 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa.
For more information on Andersen Racing, which is sponsored by Allied
Interior Products and Lafarge North America and offers programs in karting,
Formula BMW 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.
Driver quotes follow:
Mario Romancini: "I was able to make a good start. The car had pretty much
the same balance for the whole race; I didn't have to make many adjustments
at all.
"The next race is an oval too. Here it was much more difficult to pass
than it was at Indianapolis, but I like this track too. Iowa is also a short
oval, and we'll just try to be strong again in Iowa.
"This gives us a lot of confidence. I feel very comfortable with the car
and the team. I want to thank everyone on the team for their hard work. I
think we are going in the right direction, and this was very good points for
the championship."
Jonathan Summerton: "Somebody just clipped me on a restart, and it sent us
around. I didn't hit the wall, and I didn't think it flat-spotted my tires
too badly. We had a vibration after that, but it started getting better.
Then the right-front tire just blew out and I hit the wall.
"I want to thank the team for all their hard work. Our cars were strong
all weekend. The guys did a great job, and I want to thank everyone."
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, 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.