PALMETTO, Florida — Three drivers will represent Andersen Racing in the second round of the 2009 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear this weekend at VIRginia International Raceway in Alton, Va.: Conor Daly of Noblesville, Ind.; Denis Navarro of Sao Paulo, Brazil and Mikael Grenier of Stoneham, Quebec, Canada.
Daly, who finished third in the Star Mazda season opener at Sebring, Fla.
last month for the Palmetto, Fla.-based team, has to love VIR. He sealed up the 2008 BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National championship there last October with a victory and a second-place finish in that series' final doubleheader of the year, earning him a spot in the MAZDASPEED motorsports driver development program. The 17-year-old son of noted racer Derek Daly will also have support from Indeck, Cytomax, College Network and Merchant Services this weekend when he tackles the 17-turn, 3.27-mile road course in the No. 22 Andersen Racing Star Mazda car.
Navarro will be participating in his first race ever at VIR. A Star Mazda rookie like Daly, the 22-year-old drives the Andersen Racing No. 21 sponsored by Navarro Medicines Distribution and Allied Interior Products. He finished third in the South America Formula 3 championship last year with four victories and six pole positions.
Grenier, 16, will be making his first start ever with Andersen Racing, which won the Star Mazda team championship last year. Grenier finished an impressive fourth in the Formula BMW Americas championship last year with another team. Although his first open-wheel race ever was just last year at Laguna Seca">Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., he had a distinguished career in karting before advancing to formula cars. This will be his first Star Mazda race, but he tested a Formula BMW car on VIR's south track last year. His Andersen Racing Star Mazda car will be sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts and CAA-Quebec this weekend.
Richard Kent, who won the pole and finished second at Sebring for Andersen Racing, will unfortunately miss Sunday's race, but he plans to return to the competition for Round 3 at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah on May 16. Kent, of Clifton Reynes, England, is recuperating from a fall in his native England in which he broke the non-weight-bearing fibula bone in his left leg, right above his ankle.
"If only I had at least a good tale to tell from it!" said Kent. "I was simply crossing the road, and I tripped on the curb. Surprisingly it wasn't hugely painful, and I didn't even have it checked until mid-afternoon of the following day. I considered driving at VIR anyway, but if I damaged the bone any more than I would be sidelined for a lot longer, so I'm trying to be sensible. I'm determined to be better for the race in Utah and make a storming return, that's for sure!"
Another Andersen Racing Star Mazda driver, Joe D'Agostino of Brownburg, Ind., will also miss VIR but hopes to find additional marketing partners so he can rejoin the team soon too.
This weekend's action consists of three test sessions on Thursday, two pract ice sessions on Friday, qualifying on Saturday morning, a Sunday morning warm-up and a 45-minute race at 1 p.m. Sunday. Results will be posted on the series' Web site at starmazda.com.
Andersen Racing is sponsored by Allied Building Products Corp. and Lafarge North America. It is the official development team of Rahal Letterman Racing. In addition to Star Mazda, it offers future open-wheel stars programs in karting, Formula BMW Americas and Firestone Indy Lights.
The team's Web site is located at andersenracingteam.com. Information on the team's 1-mile road course test track at its headquarters can be found online at andersenracepark.com.
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 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.
