 |
|
|
Prendeville Finishes 15 of 18 Laps After Getting Airborne
|
06/17/2007
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Half of Liberty Challenge Doubleheader
|
|
|
|
|
By Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
|
|
|
|
|
 INDIANAPOLIS,
June 17 - Fans that made donations to the Best
Friends Animal Society through the
RacingLapsforBestFriends.com Web site based on
Andrew Prendeville's run in Sunday's Indy Pro
Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
have to applaud their driver for his
perseverance. Despite getting airborne in an
incident in Turn 1 on a lap-four restart,
Prendeville got the Best Friends Animal Society
No. 5 restarted and finished 15 laps of the
18-lap race.
Flying through the air and landing in a gravel
trap off Turn 1 definitely wasn't in the
Morristown, N.J.-based driver's game plan, but
neither he nor the car were hurt despite the
wild ride. After he got restarted, Prendeville
even recorded lap times that were comparable to
the podium finishers with his RLR/Andersen
Racing-prepared Dallara. But the incident was
costly, as Prendeville finished 20th in the
final standings after starting 21st.
Things started out well, as Prendeville advanced
three spots to 18th on the initial start, right
before a full-course yellow waved for contact
between Micky Gilbert and Marc Williams in Turn
1. The fireworks started for Prendeville on the
restart on lap four, when Doug Boyer had
problems in his Michael Crawford Motorsports No.
8.
 "It
happened in Turn 1 on the restart," Prendeville
said afterwards. "I had a great restart. Then
one of the Crawford cars went flying down the
inside, missed his braking point, and bounced
off two or three cars. I went to the right of
him so I wouldn't hit him, but he didn't even
make an effort to turn going into Turn 2, so I
went for a nice little flight.
"I went airborne," he continued. "They pulled me
out of the gravel and I got going again; I
wanted to do everything I could to help our
Racing Laps for Best Friends program.
"Afterwards, I was running laps that were
comparable times to the leaders'," Prendeville
noted. "All we have to do is qualify better.
It's as simple as that. We'll try again next
race."
The Indy Pro Series travels to the brand-new
Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa for another race
next Saturday, June 23.
 Both
of this weekend's Liberty Challenge Indy Pro
Series races on IMS' road course will be covered
on ESPN2 at 5 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 21.
Donations may also be made by telephone at
(435) 644-2001, extension 4801, or by mailing
checks payable to "Racing Laps for Best Friends"
to:
Best Friends Animal Society
5001 Angel Canyon Road
Kanab, Utah 84741-5000
Donations to the Racing Laps for Best Friends
program may be made using MasterCard, Visa,
American Express or Discover credit cards.
Fans donate a set amount of money for each lap
that Prendeville completes in each race. At $1
per lap for the 18-lap races such as the two
Indy Pro Series races at IMS this weekend, the
donation would be $18 per race or $36. If the
car would only complete 10 laps in one race and
five laps in the other race, then the donation
would be $15.
Best Friends Animal Society supports animal
welfare programs throughout the world, including
Indianapolis. At any given time it is caring for
approximately 1,500 animals at its sanctuary in
Kanab, Utah. Best Friends hopes the exposure to
racing fans will raise awareness of the
organization and gain support for animal
welfare.
For more information see: bestfriends.org;
andersenracingteam.com and indycar.com/pro.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<< Back to All 2007
News & Events
|
|
|
|
|
