For Immediate Release: June 22, 2010
Contact: Amy Ruman 330.813.2323 cell
Munroe Falls, OH – A very successful weekend ended with Amy Ruman standing on the podium for the second time in her Trans-Am career at the historic Road America track in Elkhart Lake, WI at Round 4 of the 2010 SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series Championship. The weekend’s race was part of the inaugural NASCAR Nationwide Series Bucyrus 200 presented by Menards and race fans came out to the track by the thousands.
Ruman had successful Friday practice sessions, then qualified the #23 McNichols Co./Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette in 6th position on Saturday, putting her on the 3rd row for Sunday’s Trans-Am race.
It was a beautiful sunny day when the 18-car Trans-Am field rolled onto the grid and took the green flag at 1:00 CT. Ruman didn’t waste any time and had a great start getting by the #36 car driven by Cliff Ebben who had qualified in 5th. Ruman had side-by-side action through turns 1 and 2 with #81 Mike Skeen, with Ruman falling in behind him heading into turn 5. Lap 2 was going well, with Ruman in 5th in pursuit of lead pack, until the exit of turn 14 when the rear-end got loose and she spun the car! Ruman dropped to 17th as most of the field passed her while she tried to get the car turned around. She got going and from then on she was on a mission to get back through the pack.
Ruman made up spots—passing a car nearly every lap—until she was in 7th position. Then there was a double yellow flag on lap 10 and the field bunched up. After the restart, she went to work again and passed two more cars bringing her to 5th place. She found herself in a battle from lap 15 on with car #24 driven by Rick Dittman. 3rd place driver Tomy Drissi was in their sights and the two gained on him. With two laps to go, Ruman picked up her pace and really started applying pressure. On the final lap, Ruman, Dittman, and Drissi were in a 3-way battle. She had a run on Dittman out of the last turn, and headed up the front straight. She passed Dittman at the end of the front straight heading into turn 1, and was right on Drissi’s bumper. Ruman stayed glued to Drissi and passed him coming out of turn 5. She was able to keep Dittman at bay, when he tried to make one last run on her as the two came racing to the checkered flag, with Ruman taking 3rd!
“It feels great,” exclaimed Ruman. “First of all, Happy Father’s Day to my dad who really nailed the set-up as usual. It was a crazy race. I was upset that I spun. The car got light on me coming out of that last turn and I almost reeled it in, but it just got a little loose, a little light. I was surprised early on that it got light. I was kind of bummed but I just kept my head down, stayed focused, and tried to pick them off one by one. I was pleased when the double yellow came out, because that brought the rest of the field together. I couldn’t be happier with the McNichols/Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette. It was a crazy last lap. My whole goal today was to stay patient and let the race come to me. I just didn’t know I was going to have to go from 17th to third, but I’m really happy to be on the podium.”
For Trans-Am Road America race interviews and highlights, check out www.goracingtv.com.
Ruman and the team are sticking around to compete at Road America this weekend for the 55th running of the famed SCCA June Sprints National. This will be her third appearance at the June Sprints and she has her sights set on winning this race.
Ruman’s primary sponsor, McNichols Co., is headquartered in Tampa, FL, and is the largest U.S. distributor of “Hole” products with service centers across North America. McNichols’ product selection is the most diverse in the industry. McNichols stocks perforated products, both metal and plastic. A toll free number 800-237-3820 connects you to the McNichols Co. distributor in your area and the company’s extensive website, www.mcnichols.com, has online customer service and online ordering.
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UPCOMING RACES:
June 26-27 – SCCA GT-1 June Sprints National at Road America, WI
July 9-11 – Amy & Niki Ruman at SCCA GT-1/SRF Watkins Glen, NY Double National
