For Immediate Release: October 15, 2008
Contact: Amy Ruman 330.813.2323 cell

Munroe Falls, OH – After spending another week in Topeka, KS for the 2008 SCCA National Championship Runoffs Race last Sunday, GT-1 Northeast Division Champ Amy Ruman’s dreams of earning the National title were cut short again during the race.

Out of the 18-car field, Ruman qualified the #23 McNichols/Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette in 5th position on the grid. Some of the same players were back again, with Bill Gray qualifying on the pole, followed by Tony Ave in 2nd, Phil Simms in 3rd, Jim Goughary Jr. 4th, and Ruman in 5th.

The start was relatively uneventful, with everyone falling into place quickly. Ruman and RJ Lopez (who qualified 7th) had a good side-by-side battle going for 3 turns on lap 5, with Lopez edging ahead of Ruman. Ruman settled into 5th position for some laps (Simms fell out of the race early), and then on lap 12 as she was gaining on Goughary Jr. for 4th spot, Ruman all of the sudden was sent into a tailspin on the fastest part of the course – the front straight. Ruman came to a stop in the runoff area of turn 1, thinking she suffered a rear flat tire. She brought the car into the pits and the crew discovered the rear wing was missing! They decided to send her back out for the last few laps without the wing. Ruman posted a 14th place finish, 2 laps down. After a photo finish drag race to the line, Gray captured 1st, Ave 2nd, and Goughary 3rd.

“My bad luck at Topeka continued again this year. What can I say, we did everything we could to be on the podium and we had a freak thing happen to us. That’s racing I guess. I am just really disappointed for my sponsors, fans, and team,” stated Ruman. “I think I will get a “10″ for the spin when everyone sees it on SPEED, I was lucky not to hit the wall.”

“We think a weld failed on one of the wing mounts. I was so disappointed for Amy, she was running really well,” exclaimed Bob Ruman, car owner and crew chief. “We will set our sights on the title again next year when the runoffs move to Road America.”

Television coverage of the entire 2008 SCCA National Runoffs will be aired on SPEED Channel. The GT-1 National Championship race will air on SPEED Wednesday, Feb. 11 at noon (EST). For more schedule information for all other races, visit www.speedtv.com or www.scca.com.

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For Immediate Release: October 2, 2008
Contact: Amy Ruman 330.813.2323 cell

Munroe Falls, OH – Amy Ruman and the Ruman Racing team are heading to Heartland Park Topeka, KS on Monday to compete in the famed SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Ruman and the team competed in last year’s Runoffs held at Heartland Park, but Amy’s race was cut short on the first lap when she was hit from behind by another car.

For the third consecutive year, Amy was the SCCA Northeast National Points Division Champion for GT-1. She captured 6 pole positions out of 7 races, scored 4 wins, 2 second place finishes, and currently holds 5 track records. Amy competed for the first time in the famed SCCA June Sprints National at Road America, WI where she qualified 5th and finished in 8th, after the car broke a control arm on the front suspension with 3 laps to go while she was running in 3rd place.

Ruman and the team will head out to HPT for the week-long event Oct. 6-12th. The SCCA Runoffs brings together the top national drivers from across the country to compete for the title of National Champion in their respective car classes. Only those who place in the top-10 in their Division points standings are eligible to compete. Ruman Racing will field the familiar #23 McNichols/Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette in Ruman’s sixth time at the Runoffs. Ruman’s best finish at the Runoff’s was 5th in 2003. She did not finish in 2007 due to the damage from being hit, earned a 7th in 2006, 6th in 2005, and 9th in 2004 after having car problems during the race.

Ruman will run the first of three qualifiers beginning on Tuesday, October 7th at 11:00am, followed by Wednesday at 3:00 pm and Thursday at 6:00pm (all times are CDT). This year’s GT-1 race will be on Sunday, October 12th at 3:45 pm.

“We really weren’t sure if we wanted to make the trip to Topeka again this year for the Runoffs, but we had such a good year and we have such great sponsors that I felt like we owed it to them to make the race. After all, this is what you work for all season – a chance to become the GT-1 National Champion,” exclaimed Ruman. “It looks like it is going to be a good field again, and I am really focused on winning this race. Hopefully this will be my year to win it.”

For LIVE timing and scoring, full coverage, and news, visit the official SCCA National Runoffs website at: http://www.scca.com/event.aspx?hub=1&event=12416 and click on the live timing and scoring link on the menu bar.

Television coverage of the entire 2008 SCCA National Runoffs will be aired on SPEED Channel. Dates and times of races will be tape delayed and will be announced soon. For more schedule information, visit www.speedtv.com or www.scca.com.

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For Immediate Release: August 21, 2008
Contact: Amy Ruman 330.813.2323 cell

Munroe Falls, OH – Amy Ruman clinched the Northeast Division Title for the third year in a row this past weekend in the SCCA double National at Pocono International Raceway, PA, as well as securing her fourth victory of the season. Bob Ruman raced in Spec Racer and made the top 15 in the second race.

Both races were hard fought for Amy Ruman, as the points race was tight between her and fellow competitor Jack Busch. Ruman was the fast car all weekend, qualifying on the pole for both races by two seconds over Busch. But Ruman fell short in race one on Saturday, taking second place as the checkered flag flew. As the race got underway, Busch got by Ruman at the start beating her to turn 1. Ruman fell in behind Busch and tried to be patient while she hounded him lap after lap. Around lap 6 Ruman dropped two wheels off track while coming out of the back straight chicane and hit a rut tossing the car sideways. She had to wait for the lapped traffic to go by before being able to continue. At that point, Ruman was 27 seconds down to Busch. She was on a mission to catch him and did so by the last lap of the race, gaining 3 seconds a lap on him. Ruman tried for a pass entering the final turns but was unable to get it done. Busch won by .769 seconds.

Sunday’s race was a different story, Ruman dominated for the win. The start of the race was exciting as Busch and Ruman were side-by-side into turns one and two with Ruman edging ahead and taking the lead. She did not look back after that and she opened up a big lead of more than 10 seconds. Midway through the race, Busch fell out with a broken motor, leaving Scott Quaile to grab 2nd place.

“What a weekend!!” exclaimed Ruman. “I am so happy to bring home the NE Division Championship again in the #23 McNichols/Goodyear Corvette. I was really upset after Saturday’s race when I made two mistakes, letting Jack get by me and then spinning. I knew we had a job to do on Sunday so I stayed focused because I had to get the win for the points race. I want to thank my sponsors for another great season, I couldn’t do it without them.”

Bob Ruman had a good weekend stepping into the #23 McNichols/Dynasty Motorsports Spec Racer. Qualifying 23rd and getting a feel for the car in Saturday’s race, he finished 18th. On Sunday Ruman took home 15th moving up in a tight field from 24th.

“I had a great time this weekend,” stated Ruman. “The Spec Racer class is always fun and competitive. Driving these cars is really a craft.”

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For Immediate Release: August 14, 2008
Contact: Amy Ruman 330.813.2323 cell

Munroe Falls, OH – Amy Ruman and Bob Ruman will be the Ruman Racing entries this weekend at the double SCCA National at Pocono International Raceway, PA.

Amy Ruman comes to Pocono from a second place finish at the Watkins Glen July National in the rain, where she had the pole and had a very close race to the checkered with Jack Busch. Ruman leads the GT-1 division points and has had three wins this season in the#23 McNichols/Goodyear Corvette. Ruman captured both poles and both wins here at Pocono last year.

“I really need the wins and points here at Pocono this weekend,” said Ruman. “I’d really like to bring home the Northeast Division Championship for the third year in a row for our team and our sponsors. Hopefully with our good car we will have the whole package this weekend.”

Bob Ruman will step into the #23 McNichols/Dynasty Motorsports Spec Racer for his second race of the season, he secured a win in GT-1 at Mid-Ohio in June. “I am looking forward to getting in the drivers’ seat this weekend and having a little fun,” stated Ruman.

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For Immediate Release: July 16, 2008
Contact: Amy Ruman 330.813.2323 cell

Munroe Falls, OH – Amy Ruman and Niki Ruman both drove last weekend in the SCCA National at Watkins Glen International, NY – but rain plagued both races.

Amy Ruman tried to score her fourth win of the season, but drove the#23 McNichols/Goodyear Corvette to a second place finish. She qualified with her 4th pole of the season by over a second on the rest of the field and under her existing track record.

Rain started early Sunday morning and tried to clear for the 14 car GT-1 field in race group 5, which created chaos for the race. Most of the field waited till the last minute to make a tire decision as rain was threatening on the horizon with an almost dry track. With 10 minutes till race time, Ruman and most of the field rolled up on dry tires, hoping for no more rain. At the one-minute warning on the grid, it started to sprinkle. As the cars were released from the grid, Ruman made the decision to start on dry tires, but as the field lined up behind the pace car, the skies opened up and it started pouring! Some GT-1’s had the chance to duck into the pit lane for a tire change as they were exiting the grid. Luckily, the officials decided to declare it a “rain race” which allowed all the teams 15 minutes to exit the course and change to rain tires. Everyone did, and regrouped on the grid.

The field exited the grid for the second time to take the green flag in the rain. Ruman had a good start, staying out in front, but got passed by Jack Busch and Peter Mumford on lap one. Ruman settled in behind them, as fogging on the inside of the windshield proved to be a big problem. The fog started to clear a few laps into the race, and Ruman passed Mumford back for 2nd place. After a number of double yellow course conditions, Ruman and Busch were back to green flag racing and were running neck and neck. Ruman tried for a pass exiting turn 8 and the two were side by side heading into turn 9, the entrance to the famous “boot” portion of the track. Ruman backed out a bit in the corner, concerned that Busch would slide out into her on the exit of the turn due to the slippery conditions. It turned out that was the last chance to try for 1st place – the checkered flag flew early, on lap10 instead of lap 14 – prompted by the rain and a car stuck in the gravel trap.

“Unfortunately, rain was the great equalizer today,” stated Ruman. “We had the fastest car for dry conditions, but my windshield fogged at the beginning of the race and that hurt me. Jack (Busch) has been around for a long time and has a lot of rain experience and he is good in the rain. A few more laps would have helped me for sure, and who knows, I may have gotten it done in the end. What a crazy race!!”

Niki Ruman qualified 22nd in the #23 McNichols/Dynasty Motorsports Spec Racer. The Spec Racers were in race group 7, the last of the day. There was no doubt it would rain for most of the race, and indeed it rained the entire time. Ruman had a fairly good start, moving up to 17th after a few laps. She held this position until lap 9, when she had trouble under breaking in turn 12, “the heel of the boot” and nearly crashed into the guardrail on the left side of the track. There was no contact, but she did spin and lost several positions. She made up a few positions and finished in 22nd.

“It has been a while since I’ve raced in the rain, so I was probably a bit overcautious. I was right behind an S-2000 when I started sliding under breaking. I couldn’t see very well through the spray and missed my break point. It was a wild ride, but I’m glad not to have made contact with the guardrail,” said Niki.

Amy Ruman was also featured in the local Watkins Glen newspaper, the Star-Gazette. You can view and read the two articles in the attached document. Amy Ruman is currently leading the GT-1 Northeast Division in the points chase.

Next up: August 14-17 – Amy Ruman in GT-1 and Niki Ruman in SRF
SCCA Double National at Pocono, PA

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