August 10, 2005 – Contact: Amy Ruman 330.813.2323 cell
Pocono, PA – The Ruman Racing team was faced with many ups and downs this past weekend at Pocono International Raceway’s SCCA double national. Amy Ruman was fast all weekend in the 13 car GT-1 field, but just couldn’t quite bring home a win.
The three-day event started with practice and qualifying on Friday. It rained Friday afternoon, changing track conditions a bit. But it dried out by the time Ruman took the track at 6:30 pm for a very late first qualifying session in which she placed 2nd. During the Saturday morning qualifier, Ruman put together a great session, qualifying 1st and under the track record with a 1:28.924. Phil Simms was 2nd with a 1:30.460, followed by Jack Busch 1:30.725. Saturday afternoon’s race started clean and coming out of turn one it was Ruman, Busch, Sloe, and Simms. On the back straight, Busch got by Ruman, as both drivers sprinted away from the pack. Busch lead laps 1-3 and on lap 4, Ruman made a successful pass for the lead in turn two. On lap 7 Ruman developed a problem on the back straight and was forced to pull off while in the lead. Her day was done; the main ignition coil wire arced and burnt a hole in it and fell off. With many dropouts, the raced finished with Phil Simms taking 1st, Scott Quaile 2nd, and Glenn Seward 3rd.
The team was ready for Sunday’s second chance after Saturday’s disappointing race. Ruman again qualified 1st in Sunday morning’s ten-minute qualifying round. Sunday’s race shaped up with Ruman at a 1:29.207, Moyer 1:29.691, Busch 1:30.031, and Simms with a 1:32.016 at the front of the grid. The start was awesome and the first two rows were in a four-car slide through turn one. Moyer had Ruman in to turn one, but Ruman had Moyer coming out of turn one. Ruman lead the first lap, with Moyer getting by on lap 2. Close racing continued during laps 2-8 and on lap 9 Ruman made her move to retake the lead. Ruman then lead laps 9-11 gaining about a four second lead. On lap 11, Ruman got behind lapped traffic, went low to pass coming out of the infield onto the back straight and got into some marbles and spun the car. Ruman was able to do a 180-degree burnout to continue just as Moyer passed. With only a few laps to go, Ruman was not able to catch Moyer and finished 2nd. Busch took 3rd, Sloe in 4th.
“What a weekend. We had the fastest car there and just couldn’t seal the deal. It was a chance for me to sew up the Northeast Point Championship and I blew it! I was really upset at myself when I made that mistake in Sunday’s race, but we all know that sometimes having patience in a racecar can be challenging. I was happy that I put the McNichols/Cenweld/Safety Today Corvette on the pole twice this weekend, I was just sorry I didn’t win it for the sponsors and the team,” stated Ruman. “I am looking forward to the points shoot out with Trevor (Hopwood) at the Mid-Ohio national in two weeks.”
Next Up – August 20-21: SCCA GT-1 National at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, OH
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