Pecorari, Potekhen to race Freedom 100 in two-car effort

SWE Racing owner Steve Eppard announced May 10 that he will enter two cars in the Firestone Freedom 100 for Firestone Indy Lights veterans Robbie Pecorari and Mike Potekhen.

"I'm very excited to add Robbie and Mike to our team," Eppard said. "We got to know Robbie pretty well last season when he drove for Team KMA and are happy to add a second driver the caliber of Mike to the team."

Pecorari, who finished second to J.R. Hildebrand in the Kansas Lottery 100 on April 27, is 14th in Firestone Indy Lights points despite missing the season-opening race. Pecorari will drive the No. 43 car for the remainder of the 2008 season.

Pecorari drove in the St. Petersburg doubleheader for Michael Crawford Motorsports, recording a finish of 10th in Race 1 before recording his runner-up finish for Guthrie Racing.

"I'm used to getting into things and going," said the 21-year-old native of Aston, Pa. "It's the same engineer from last year, Mark Weida, and there's still a connection for me. It won't be as hard as the other teams because I already know the guys. We were different teams last year, but it was almost like it was the same team."

Potekhen will be making his 2008 Firestone Indy Lights debut at Indianapolis in the No. 92 Miller Eads car.

Last season, Potekhen finished fifth in Firestone Indy Lights point standings driving for Apex Racing. He recorded three top-five finishes – with a season-best second-place result at The Milwaukee Mile – and grabbed seven top 10s in the final eight races.

Potekhen is returning to the team that gave him his start in Firestone Indy Lights competition. He scored four top 10s in five starts for SWE.