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Mechanical Difficulties Spoil a Top-10 Run For Prendeville and
Team Moore Racing In Friday's Firestone Freedom 100 at IMS

05/22/2009

By Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., May 22 - Everything was going as planned
for Andrew Prendeville Friday in the Firestone Freedom 100 at
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway until a rare mechanical
problem thwarted his efforts. He ran in eighth place for 12 laps,
conserved his tires and was poised to move up even further in
the last 10 laps of the 40-lap race when an input shaft broke
on his Team Moore Racing-Xtreme Coil Drilling No. 2, causing
him to place 15th in the final rundown.

The Henderson, Nev.-based driver qualified 11th on Thursday
to start the marquee event of the Firestone Indy Lights
series on the inside of Row 6, beside James Hinchcliffe.
He dropped back two spots initially, and then one more
spot on lap two when Daniel Herrington got by the native
of Chatham, N.J.

Trying to save his tires and avoid getting caught up in an
accident, Prendeville remained patient. He got 13th on
lap six by passing Jonathan Summerton, and then
moved up two more positions when Martin Plowman
and Pippa Mann tangled a few seconds later.

Prendeville cracked the top 10 on lap 14 by re-passing
Herrington. He moved up two more spots when Ana
Beatriz and Gustavo Yacaman crashed in Turn 1 on lap
16. He remained in eighth place for 12 more laps until the
problem developed as the green waved for a restart on
lap 29 after a full-course yellow for debris on the front stretch.

Although more than half of the field was bearing down on his crippled car,
Prendeville got off the track without any further damage.

He officially completed 29 laps.

Although disappointed, Prendeville was pleased with how fast his bright
yellow No. 2 ran. His car's telemetry showed that he ran several sections
of the world-famous 2.5-mile oval at over 200 miles per hour several times,
which is quite an accomplishment for a Firestone Indy Lights car.

"I ran over 200 miles an hour in an Indy Lights car; that was cool and I'm
happy about it," Prendeville said afterwards.

"The car was awesome," he continued. "The team did a good job. We have
fast cars everywhere we go, but we keep having problems that are outside
of the team's control. It's really frustrating.

"Ana Beatriz's crash happened in front of me but I got through it OK. I got
through all the problems and I was having a lot of fun out there. It was
good racing and obviously the fans liked it a lot. I just wish I could have
finished because it would have been a top five, no question."

Prendeville will get to try again very soon, because his next race is
coming right up May 31 at the Milwaukee Mile.

Friday's race was broadcast live on VERSUS.

For more information, see www.teammooreracing.com and www.indycar.com/pro.

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