September 23, 2003 – Lexington, OH – It was an exciting week at the SCCA National Championship Valvoline Runoffs at Mid-Ohio. In the Super Bowl of club car racing, Amy Ruman, in the Cenweld/McNichols Corvette, finished 5th in a very competitive field of GT-1 racers. After the three qualifying sessions were over, Ruman had qualified 10th in the twenty car field. There was only a one second spread between 2nd place and 10th place with Amy in 10th place with a time of 1:27.069.
Blue skies and temperatures in the high 70s graced Sunday afternoon’s 1:30pm race. Ruman started the race in 9th when the 5th place car did not start. The twenty-car field took the green on the back straight and made it through the first turns cleanly. Ruman was on the inside row, which moved a bit slower that the outside row, and she settled into 10th place behind Craig Conway by the 4th corner. The fifth through 10th place cars were nose-to-tail for the next few laps, making passing a real challenge. Ruman moved up to 9th on the second lap when the field passed Tom Sloe, who had spun in the key-hole. Ruman worked her way by Conway at the end of the back straight on lap 8. She then quickly put distance between the two of them and worked her way to the 7th place car of Tim Cowen. Ruman made her move on Cowen in the key-hole section of the racetrack and passed him coming onto the back straight.
“Cowen and I were nose to tail for quite a few laps. I could see that he was struggling with his set up especially in the key-hole, and I set him up on the exit and got by him on the back straight,” stated Ruman. “We decided to go with Goodyear tires and that was definitely the right move. My Dad nailed the set up, and the car was handling well the whole race despite the changing conditions of the track.”
Ruman then set her sights on Bret Moyer for 6th place. She executed the pass coming up out of thunder valley with three laps to go in the race. She started to gain on the 4th and 5th place cars, Rob Giorgi and Jack Busch. On the final lap, Busch spun in the carousel and Ruman passed him to take the checkered flag in 5th place!
“My crew gave me a great car today. I steadily worked my way up through the pack, and if I had a few more laps I think I could have tried Giorgi for 4th. It was a great race for me and I had a lot of hometown fans supporting me.”
“I’m so proud of Amy,” said father and car owner Bob Ruman. “She did an incredible job in her first Runoffs in a very deep and experienced field. She was consistently fast, conserved the tires, and worked strategically to improve her positions. You’ll be seeing more of her in the future!”
Ruman Racing wishes to thank sponsors McNichols Co., Cenweld Corp., and Goodyear for helping to make Amy’s effort at the Runoffs such a success.
For all results, news, photos of the Runoffs, visit the official Valvoline Runoffs website at: http://www.scca.com/amateur/club_racing/runoffs/index.html. The results section is comprehensive.
Television coverage of the entire 2003 SCCA Valvoline Runoffs will be aired on SPEED Channel. All races will be tape delayed with coverage starting November 22. The GT-1 race is scheduled to air Saturday, December 13 at 1:00pm. For more schedule information, visit www.speedtv.com.
