IPS: Indy I/II: Andrew Prendeville qualifying notes

Prendeville Turns 39 Laps Friday On IMS' Road Course In Indy Pro Series Preliminaries

INDIANAPOLIS, June 15 - After doing so well on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's oval in May, Andrew Prendeville got his first taste of the famous track's 2.605-mile, 13-turn road course Friday during a practice session and qualifying for the first half of the Liberty Challenge Indy Pro Series doubleheader here Saturday afternoon.

Prendeville, of Morristown, N.J., ran 19 laps in Friday morning's practice session and 20 laps in qualifying on Friday afternoon in the Best Friends Animal Society No. 5 fielded by RLR/Andersen Racing. Now he'll try to run all 18 laps of the two races here Saturday and Sunday to generate the most donations to Best Friends possible from fans who are contributing to the not-for-profit organization through the racinglapsforbestfriends.com Web site.

Prendeville's fastest lap in the morning practice session was timed in 1:27.2940 for an average speed of 107.430 miles per hour, which put him 14th on the sheet of 25 drivers. The temperatures soared in the afternoon and he ran a bit slower in qualifying, when his best lap was timed in 1:27.3170 for an average speed of 107.402 mph. That earned him the 16th starting spot for Saturday afternoon's race, on the outside of Row Eight beside Chris Festa.

Both Prendeville and his team, RLR/Andersen Racing, are rookies this year in the Indy Pro Series.

"We have some work to do," Prendeville said after the qualifying session. "This is the first time on this road course for us," he noted. "We're behind the eight ball now, but we usually seem to find a way to come out OK in the race. Hopefully that will be the case tomorrow and Sunday.

"I really want to finish every lap of both races here for our program for Best Friends Animal Society and racinglapsforbestfriends.com," he added. "Finishing is always our first goal."

-credit: restart communications