For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
RLR/Andersen's Romancini Wins Thriller
In Firestone Indy Lights Season Finale
HOMESTEAD, Fla., Oct. 9 - RLR/Andersen Racing's Mario Romancini led about
the last nine inches to beat Firestone Indy Lights champion J.R. Hildebrand
at the start/finish line on the last lap of the series' 2009 finale Friday at
Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Romancini, who lives in Miami and Sao Paulo, Brazil and drives for a
Palmetto, Fla.-based team, had a 0.0057 of a second margin of victory for his
second triumph of the season in what he called "my best race ever." It was the
second-closest finish in series history.
The 21-year-old star used the high side throughout the 67-lap event to
power to the victory with his black, silver and red No. 5, which is sponsored by
Andersen Racing, Revita Recycling, Win Brazil Marketing, Allied Interior
Products and Lafarge North America.
It was a thriller for the live VERSUS audience, the crowd on hand at the
track and anyone following along on indycar.com. Romancini started tenth but
he was already fifth after his first trip around the 1.485-mile oval. He
was third by the end of lap two, but then slipped to fourth behind polesitter
James Davison, Hildebrand and Wade Cunningham as the lead pack diced for
position in a battle as hot as the 90-degree Fahrenheit temperatures this week
in Southern Florida.
Romancini was fourth and on the outside of Brandon Wagner when Wagner lost
control of his car and crashed in Turn 4 to bring out the first of three
full-course cautions on lap five. He remained in fourth until lap 18 when he
passed Cunningham for third.
Davison, Hildebrand and Romancini then quickly assembled a three-car train
in that order, with Romancini on the outside, constantly looking for a way
around the other two. He got second for a couple laps, trailing only
Davison, until Davison faded and Hildebrand got by them both. But Romancini was
right on Hildebrand's rear wing by lap 39, and he hounded him the rest of the
way.
Gustavo Yacaman spun on the backstretch on lap 47 to bring out the second
yellow. Only two laps were run under green after that clean-up before the
caution waved again when Rodrigo Barbosa hit the wall in Turn 4 with 54 laps
down.
Romancini was the meat in an Andretti Green/AFS sandwich for both of those
restarts, since Sebastian Saavedra had moved into third by that point.
Despite the pressure Romancini remained strong, and he and Hildebrand had some
padding over Saavedra with four laps to go.
Romancini tried one move by Hildebrand in Turn 1 with 65 laps down, but he
didn't have quite enough to get the pass completed that time. He tried
again in Turn 4 on the last lap and that time it worked, out-dragging Hildebrand
at the start/finish line in an effort that would have even made John Force
proud. Saavedra was third; Mike Potekhen finished fourth and Davison
rounded out the top five.
There were 11 lead changes among four different drivers: Cunningham (four
laps), Davison (30 laps), Hildebrand (32 laps) and Romancini (one lap, but
the one that counted).
Romancini's teammate for this race, Sean Guthrie of Albuquerque, N.M.,
struggled with a loose car throughout the race but kept it off the wall and
almost finished in the top 10 in his first event with RLR/Andersen Racing. He
started 12th and ended up 11th in the No. 9, which was sponsored by Car
Crafters, IZOD, Andersen Racing and Andersen RacePark.
With the victory Romancini advanced from seventh to sixth in the final
point standings and ended the year on the best note possible. His car, the No.
5, also ended up sixth in the entrant standings.
The team's No. 9 car, which was driven by Jonathan Summerton, Ali Jackson,
Pablo Donoso and Guthrie this year, was unofficially 12th in the entrant
standings. RLR/Andersen Racing continued its reputation as a star-making team,
as Friday's race winner carried the team's colors and the race runner-up and
2009 champion, Hildebrand, was one of its drivers last year.
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. Its karting team's new Web site
is located at andersenkarting.com.
Driver post-race quotes follow:
Mario Romancini: "I lost my voice screaming on the radio! I tried J.R.
one lap before and I couldn't get him in Turn 1. I knew my last chance would
be coming out of Turn 4 and at the start-finish line on the last lap, and I
got him by a couple of inches. It was an amazing race!
"I have to thank everyone on our team and our sponsors. It was my best race
ever.
"We had a bad qualifying; I don't really know why, but we just didn't have
a good set-up for qualifying. But it doesn't matter where you qualify on an
oval if you have a good car for the race, and my car was really good.
"I got a really good start. I was up with the leaders by the second or
third lap I think. We were running very close but I didn't have any contact
with anybody. My car was very good on the high line. But J.R. and I had very
similar cars. I tried and I tried but I couldn't pass him. I was hoping
that we would push each other and pull away from the other cars, and that's
what happened near the end of the race.
"We just pulled it off at the end. It is really good to end the season in
a good way, especially since the problems we had off and on this year. I
really want to thank everyone on the team; they did an awesome job. I also
want to thank my sponsors and my mom; she came here for this race. I'm so
glad that everything went so well!"
Sean Guthrie: "Our car was really loose. I had to chase it all the way up
the track. It was a handful, so I just tried to save the car and the tires
and finish the race.
"I just worked with the car all day. But it was good to get back in a car,
I had fun, and I'm glad we were able to finish."
The stats:
First Practice (Thursday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.):
1. Sebastian Saavedra, 28.5564 seconds, 187.208 mph, lap 12 of 54.
7. Mario Romancini, 28.8881 seconds, 185.059 mph, lap 37 of 63.
11. Sean Guthrie, 28.9275 seconds, 184.807 mph, lap 4 of 40.
Second Practice (Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.):
1. Sebastian Saavedra, 28.5302 seconds, 187.380 mph, lap 9 of 46.
10. Mario Romancini, 28.9107 seconds, 184.914 mph, lap 55 of 58.
15. Sean Guthrie, 28.9925 seconds, 184.393 mph, lap 3 of 54.
Combined Practice Results:
1. Sebastian Saavedra, practice 2.
11. Mario Romancini, practice 1.
15. Sean Guthrie, practice 1.
Qualifying (Friday, 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.):
1. James Davison, 28.7683 seconds and 28.8562 seconds for combined time of
57.6245 seconds, 185.546 mph.
10. Mario Romancini, 28.9524 seconds and 29.0067 seconds for combined time
of 57.9591 seconds, 184.475 mph.
12. Sean Guthrie, 29.0254 seconds and 29.1285 seconds for combined time of
58.1539 seconds, 183.857 mph.
Race (Friday, 6 p.m., 67 laps):
1. Mario Romancini
11. Sean Guthrie
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 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, andersenracepark.com and andersenkarting.com.