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RLR/Andersen Racing's Prendeville Finishes Fifth
in
First Indy Pro Series Race at Homestead
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03/24/2007
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By Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
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HOMESTEAD, Fla., March 24 - Andrew Prendeville
of Morristown, N.J. came from 21st starting spot
to finish fifth in his first oval-track race
ever Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The
event was also the first Indy Pro Series race
ever for he and his teammate, Joey Scarallo of
Smithtown, N.Y., and for their team,
RLR/Andersen Racing of Fairfield, N.J.
 Scarallo
had a top-10 finish in sight until debris from a
bad crash hit his GroupAwheels.com Dallara and
forced him to drop out of the race, which was
shortened 10 laps so track crews could repair
the retaining walls.
Prendeville, driving a car that promoted
Bestfriends.org, was ahead of that melee and
took the checkered under caution behind the
winner, Alex Lloyd, and the other top-five
finishers: Chris Festa, Hideki Mutoh and Jaime
Camara. Only the latter passed more cars than
Prendeville did, as Camara advanced 20 positions
to Prendeville's 16.
Prendeville qualified 21st and Scarallo 23rd in
the 25-car field.
Prendeville flew at the start, as he was 18th by
the end of lap two, 15th by the end of lap three
and 13th by the end of lap five. He had just
passed CR Crews for 12th when the first yellow
waved on lap six for a crash in Turn 2 involving
Tom Wood and A.J. Russell. Scarallo had been in
21st early but he had moved up to 17th at that
point.
 The
green waved again on lap 11. Prendeville was
busy trying to pass Ryan Justice while holding
off Shane Lewis at that point, while Scarallo
passed Jon Brownson to move up to 16th, with
Crews just ahead and Micky Gilbert behind him.
Prendeville cracked the top 10 on lap 15 by
passing Mike Potekhen. Scarallo was in 17th at
that point, running between Gilbert and Tom
Wieringa.
Prendeville moved up to ninth on lap 16 when he
got around Justice. A lap later Scarallo
regained 16th by passing Gilbert. He then got
caught up in a heated battle with Shane Lewis
and Wieringa.
That when things got too close for comfort for
Scarallo, who did some fancy driving to miss
getting tangled up in a violent, two-part crash
involving Wade Cunningham and Justice coming out
of Turn 2 that brought out the second yellow
flag on lap 22.
When the standings got sorted out Prendeville
was up to eighth, sandwiched between Sean
Guthrie and Potekhen, while Scarallo was in
14th, running between Lewis and Wieringa.
The race was restarted on lap 43 but just three
laps later the yellow waved again for an even
nastier wreck involving Pablo Perez, Gilbert and
Guthrie in Turn 2. Prendeville was ahead of that
one but Scarallo got caught up in it when a
flying gearbox hit his car as he was trying to
get through the trouble. Although he wasn't hurt
the damage to the car was too extensive for him
to continue, and he ended up 21st in the
official order of finish.
Initial medical reports indicate that all the
drivers escaped injury except for Justice and
Perez. Justice reportedly was awake and alert
and was transported by helicopter to Jackson
Memorial Hospital for precautionary reasons.
Perez was reportedly transported to the same
hospital by air with orthopedic injuries to both
legs. Officials said he was in stable condition.
The next two Indy Pro Series races are coming
right up next weekend on the streets of St.
Petersburg, Fla.
Saturday's race from Homestead is slated to be
broadcast on Wednesday, March
28 at 5 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2.
Andersen Racing, of Fairfield, N.J., is the
official Indy Pro Series development team of top
IndyCar team Rahal Letterman Racing.
RLR/Andersen Racing is committed to offering a
program that gives up-and-coming drivers the
proper training to reach open-wheel racing's
major leagues. It fields multiple cars in the
Hankook Tires F2000 Championship, the Star Mazda
Championship presented by Goodyear and the Indy
Pro Series. More information on the team is
available on its Web site at
andersenracingteam.com.
Post-race quotes follow:
Andrew Prendeville: "I had a
good start. I believe [Logan] Gomez and [Jamie]
Camara went flying by me, but I was passing cars
right and left too. At one point we were four
wide, and I know a couple times I passed two
cars at a time. I think I was 12th by the first
yellow.
"Our car was awesome. We had sticker tires for
the start and that helped; I think that gave us
an edge for the first five or 10 laps. The
Firestone Firehawk tires performed great.
"Our car ran smooth. It was good in traffic. I
was sort of glad for that first yellow because I
think I hurt the tires a bit moving up from 21st
to 12th.
"I was close to two of the accidents. I just
happened to be on the inside and I was able to
get around them.
"The RLR/Andersen Racing crew gave me a good
car. For the most part, once I got by somebody
they couldn't get me back. It was my first oval
race ever, and to bring home a top five, it was
awesome."
Joey Scarallo: "I was just
trying to make it to the finish. I was playing
with the bars and the weight jacker. Once we got
going it wasn't too bad.
"I barely made it through the first big wreck.
Then in the second one, a gearbox came down the
track and hit our car and took out our
right-rear corner.
I'm fine, but I was close to both of the
crashes. The first one I barely made it through;
the second one I barely missed it."
Dan Andersen: "For his first-ever oval race,
Andrew showed amazing poise. He was slicing and
dicing and he moved right up to finish fifth.
I'm proud of him and I'm proud of the team for
giving him a fast race car. I think this proves
that Andrew is a natural talent.
"Joey had an excellent run too; he would very
likely have had a top-10 finish, but racing luck
bit him, which happens sometimes.
"I'm very satisfied with both the drivers we've
signed for the year, and for our first Indy Pro
Series race as a team."
Go to the Photo Gallery for this race
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