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Pittsboro, IN August 30, 2009 - Andrew Prendeville drove
a spectacular race at Chicagoland Speedway on
Saturday, moving up from his 14th
starting spot to finish
on the podium in third place. Andrew took the
TMR/Xtreme Coil # 2 car through the field expertly in a
tightly contested
race after he and four other cars
experienced a fuel pick-up problem in qualifying.
Undeterred, the team made the necessary repairs
and changes
while Andrew remained extremely calm
under pressure. By race time, the car was ready and
Andrew had a great start. He then showed patience
and
restraint as he hung back while the front of the field
sorted itself out. The race had only two yellows: one for
a three car incident on lap 6
(Mann, Beatriz and Barbosa)
and again on lap 32 (contact between Hinchcliffe, Beatriz and
Potekhen). In the exciting closing laps, Andrew held
third and
made some impressive attempts to overtake the second place
Davison. The finish showed that the top seven cars were all
within a half a
second of one another.
“Andrew drove a great race. After starting from the back of the
pack he was really patient. Mark and all the TMR crew prepped
a great car and
Andrew drove it to his first podium finish for TMR.
The race was so close and exciting to watch. Andrew drove a
really smart race,” commented
co-owner Tom Wood. “What
started out to be a bleak looking race day with mechanical
issues in practice and qualifying turned out to be a great
race
for TMR. Our whole team never got rattled. I am really proud of
all of them,” concluded Wood.
Added Andrew Prendeville: “At first the car wasn’t ideal to run in the pack, but it was a 190 mph traffic jam anyway, so I just sat back and
tuned the car for the first half of the race and saved the tires. Once the three car accident happened, it put us in a better situation to
attack and I was able to get up to third and fight for second. I’m very proud of the team and the result. It is a result that we have been
capable of all year, but bad luck has overcome good cars far too much this year. I am looking forward to Homestead.”
“The Chicago race could be summed up as an emotional roller coaster, but finished on a very high note. It was unfortunate to put Andrew in the
situation of having to drive up through the field from a poor starting position. We knew from the morning’s practice that we would have a good
car; it would just come down to being able to get to the front, which is exactly what Andrew did. We didn’t win the race, but Andrew surely had
the drive of the race, we are all very proud of him. TMR looks forward to the final race at Homestead, and when we get to start at the front,
watch out!” said Mark Moore.
For more information, see www.teammooreracing.com and www.indycar.com/pro.
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