LONG BEACH, California — With a solid fourth-place finish Sunday morning on the Long Beach street circuit, RLR/Andersen Racing's Jonathan Summerton remains in second place in the Firestone Indy Lights driver point standings, but he has cut Junior Strous's lead from 28 points to only three.
Summerton started fifth in the Palmetto, Fla.-based team's No. 9, which is sponsored by Andersen Racing, Allied Interior Products and Lafarge North America. Summerton, who will turn 21 on Tuesday, stayed in fifth place behind Stefan Wilson until Wilson pitted with mechanical problems on lap 41 of the 45-lap event, which vaulted Summerton into fourth place.
The Kissimmee, Fla.-based driver now has a second and two fourths in his three series appearances.
There were only two full-course yellows, both of which occurred in the first half of the race and only took six laps. The field got very strung out on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street course during the race's second half, making it hard for anyone to pass.
RLR/Andersen's Mario Romancini started 14th but was forced to retire with only one lap complete due to a problem with the gearbox of his No. 5, which is sponsored by Andersen Racing, Revita Recycling, Win Brazil Marketing, Allied Interior Products and Lafarge North America. Romancini, of São Paulo, Brazil, was able to get the car back to the pits safely. His official finishing position was 24th.
Summerton's fastest race lap was a 1:16.4007 (92.732 miles per hour) on lap 34. It was the fifth-fastest lap turned in the race, behind the laps run by race winner J.R. Hildebrand, Wilson, second-place finisher Richard Philippe and third-place finisher James Hinchcliffe.
VERSUS will air its coverage of the Long Beach race, which includes in-car footage from Summerton's car, at 4 p.m. Eastern on Monday.
The next race is coming right up next Sunday on Kansas Speedway's 1.5-mile tri-oval in Kansas City, Kan. RLR/Andersen Racing is the defending winner of that race with Hildebrand driving. It will be Romancini and Summerton's first oval track race ever.
Live coverage will again be offered on indycar.com, including practice at 9 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. Saturday, qualifying at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, and the 67-lap, 100-mile race at high noon on Sunday. All times are local. TV coverage of that race is scheduled to air at 4 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, April 27 on VERSUS.
For more information on the team, which is sponsored by Allied Interior Products and Lafarge North America and offers programs in karting, Formula BMW 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.
Post-race quotes follow:
Jonathan Summerton: “We didn't have the fastest car today. I think we were
fourth- or fifth-quickest. The car finished where it should have. We need to do some development work for our street-course set-up.
“Stefan [Wilson]'s car was faster than ours was. Towards the end, we both had problems with the lapped car that was in front of us. Even though he was slower than we were, he still held us up.
“This is a track where you finish where you qualify, basically. It's not really a passing track. So to come out of it a position up from where you started, we have to be OK with that.
“Kansas will be my first oval race ever. Hopefully we will have a good car there. The team won there last year.
“It's too early to get excited about the championship, but it's good to be in contention. It's good for sponsorship. But consistent good results are what pays off in the end.”
Mario Romancini: “It was something with the gearbox. It happened on the ba ckstraight. It was a shame, because the car was good. I think I could have been in the top eight today, but unfortunately I didn't score any points at all so it hurts me in the championship. It's sad.
“Let's see what happens in Kansas. I'm looking forward to my first oval race because we had a good oval test at Homestead. Let's hope we can finish there and get a good position in the championship.”
About Allied Building Products Corp.:
Allied Building Products Corp., headquartered in East Rutherford, N.J., is one 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, four-step program utilizing multiple entries in four different platforms: karting, Formula BMW Americas, 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 and andersenracepark.com.
