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05/25/2007
Prendeville Not Only Finishes All 40
Laps of Freedom 100 at IMS
By Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
For Racing Laps for Best Friends, He's
One of the Biggest Stars of the Show
 INDIANAPOLIS,
May 25 - Andrew Prendeville not only finished
all 40 laps of Friday's Freedom 100 Indy Pro
Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
he and his Best Friends Animal Society No. 5 car
were one of the biggest stars of the show.
Everyone who made a pledge at
www.racinglapsforbestfriends.com
(this website) and predicted that the
Morristown, N.J.-based driver would finish all
40 laps of the race knew what they were doing.
What's more, Prendeville had animal lovers
everywhere cheering for his performance. He
started tenth, ran as high as second, set the
fastest lap of the race by running even faster
than the speed that won the pole, and finished
fourth.
He was the highest-finishing rookie in the race,
which was televised on ESPN2.
Prendeville has now moved up from tenth to
seventh in the point standings. Twelve races
remain, including one next weekend on the
Milwaukee Mile, so it's already time for website
pledging for that event to benefit the largest
no-kill animal sanctuary in the United States.
Prendeville will also be back racing at IMS next
month in two races that support the United
States Grand Prix Formula 1 race.
Fans on the Speedway grounds can also make
pledges and straight donations at the Racing
Laps for Best Friends tent through Sunday's
Indianapolis 500. It is located east of the
museum, directly across from the AAA
transporter.
Donations to the Racing Laps for Best Friends
program may be made using MasterCard, Visa,
American Express or Discover credit cards.
Donations may also be made by telephone at (435)
644-2001, extension 4801, or by mail.
Fans may also donations by mailing checks
payable to Racing Laps for Best Friends to:
Best Friends Animal Society
5001 Angel Canyon Road
Kanab, Utah 84741-5000
 Prendeville,
who is one of two RLR/Andersen Racing Indy Pro
Series drivers, definitely made Friday's Freedom
100 exciting. After the initial start there were
two yellows right away, from laps one through
three and then from laps six through nine.
Prendeville kept out of the incidents and was
eighth by lap two. He dropped back to 11th on
lap five but he had a terrific restart on lap 10
that put him back into eighth place. He slipped
to ninth on lap 11 but passed Jonathan Klein on
lap 12 to regain eighth.
That's when he really got busy. He passed Al
Unser III for seventh on lap 13, took care of
Jon Brownson for sixth on the next lap, and
cracked into the top five for the first time
Friday on the very next lap, lap 15, when Sean
Guthrie fell back.
Prendeville stayed in fifth place for the next
two laps, setting the fastest lap of the race in
the process when he circled the 2.5-mile oval in
47.6002 seconds on lap 17 for an average speed
of 189.075 miles per hour. That was even faster
than the 188.231 mph speed that Ken Losch ran to
win the pole on Thursday.
With all that momentum built up, Prendeville got
fourth by blowing by Matt Jaskol on lap 18. Two
laps later he moved into podium territory when
he passed Jaime Camara at the halfway point for
third.
His pass of Chris Festa for second was
brilliant, as he saw a chance to get by the
Ganassi driver and went for it, leaving lots of
room as he went by. He stayed in second place
for two laps but then Festa retook the spot on
lap 26. Prendeville remained right on his rear
wing, looking for a way back by him, until the
pace slowed on lap 31 when his teammate, Joey
Scarallo, was pushed into the wall in Turn
Three.
Hopes were high that Prendeville might be able
to regain second on the restart on lap 36.
Instead, Camara got by him by what several
people saw as jumping, but the officials didn't
see it that way and Camara wasn't penalized. A
lapped car also complicated that restart,
although its driver gave the leaders as much
room as he could.
Prendeville didn't get another chance to regain
a podium spot. The yellow flew once again on the
very next lap, this time for moisture in Turn
Two. The rain held off but the race ended under
that yellow, and Prendeville finished fourth. It
was his best finish so far in this series.
For more information see
www.andersenracingteam.com and
www.indycar.com/pro.
Prendeville's post-race quote follows:
"I got beat on the last restart, but it was a
good race."
"We know we can race with the top teams. There's
Sam Schmidt; Andretti Green; Ganassi, and now
we're there too. We can compete with the top
teams."
"The beginning of the race had those yellows,
and I told myself to sit back and sit tight and
stay out of trouble."
"We were able to pick off a lot of guys. The
pass on Festa was a little bit opportunistic. He
got hung up going into Three and I timed it just
right and passed him coming out of Four. I was
able to get by him cleanly, and then he got me
back a couple laps later."
"The last yellow screwed everybody up. I don't
think the rain cost me from making the podium
though. I think it was that jump start."
"The car was perfect. It was good in traffic.
They say I set the fastest lap of the race."
"I want to thank my team, RLR/Andersen Racing,
and for everybody who donated to Best Friends
through RacingLapsForBestFriends.com.
We finished all 40 laps; we were as high as
second; and we finished fourth. We're getting
better all the time." |
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