For Immediate Release: May 31, 2007
Contact: Amy Ruman 330.813.2323 cell

Munroe Falls, OH – Amy Ruman competed in a hometown race this past weekend at Nelson Ledges Road Course in Garrettsville, Ohio. Ruman dominated the field all weekend and took both the pole and the win.

The team dodged thunderstorms both days and managed to have two dry qualifying sessions and a dry race. The field consisted of six GT-1’s. Ruman posted the fastest times in both qualifying sessions, taking the pole with a 1:02.5. The second place qualifier, Tom Sloe, had a 1:03.5.

Ruman, Sloe, McManus, and Bujdoso shaped up the top four slots. Ruman and Sloe had a drag race to the first turn with a little contact between the two. Ruman backed out to give Sloe the lead for the first 3 laps. On lap 4 Ruman passed Sloe coming out of the tree turn. The two again touched – this time with Ruman coming out in front. Ruman continued to put distance on the rest of the field and secured a margin of victory of 49.5 seconds.

“It’s always interesting when Tom (Sloe) and I race against each other. When he got by me on the start, I just settled in to see where I was faster than him, and waited to make my move. It came sooner then I expected when he got wide coming out of the tree-turn. The opportunity was there so I took it. We got together when he forced me into the grass, but I just kept my foot in it and came out in front. I’m not sure if he knew I was there when he moved over; I thought we would just go side-by-side through the carousel but it didn’t work out that way,” exclaimed Ruman. “There was no major damage to the cars, so it worked out okay. We raced each other hard, and Tom and I shook hands after the race.”

The team will be heading to Mid-Ohio this weekend for another hometown race. There will be a driver change for this event – Bob Ruman will be piloting the #23 McNichols Corvette. “My Dad has been chomping at the bit to get back in the car! I had to hand the keys over to him – or should I say he had to pry them from my fingers, haha. No really, he has been so cool to let me drive the Corvette these past of couple years. This race is long overdue for him,” stated Ruman.

Next up: June 3: GT-1 National at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Ohio

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For Immediate Release: May 10, 2007
Contact: Amy Ruman 330.813.2323 cell

Munroe Falls, OH – Ruman and the team headed up to New Hampshire this past weekend to compete in the second race of the 2007 season. Ruman set the pace in first and second rounds of qualifying on Saturday, being first in both sessions. Ruman posted a fast time of 1:02.33 with Bill Thumel popping a lap time of 1:02.62 in a very close second.

The grid shaped up with a great turnout of nine GT-1’s. Ruman, Thumel, Busch, and Rozmajzl rounded out the top four. Ruman spun the rear tires on the start dropping to 3rd on the first lap. Busch and Thumel got by and the three were nose to tail for the first 3 laps. Thumel and Ruman both passed Busch, and then the two were nose to tail. Ruman passed Thumel by a nose up the turn 3 hill, and Thumel suck side by side into turn 4 passing Ruman back. Ruman gave a little bump to Thumel up the next hill. The following lap Ruman had a bit of a run on Thumel up to turn 5. They were side by side and there was contact sending Thumel sideways off the track. Ruman went on to distance herself by 38 seconds over Jack Busch in second and lap the entire field except Busch.

“Wow – the first part of that race was really fun. But I was really upset when Thumel and I got together; he had a really good car. I was on his inside for 5 but then for the next turn somehow we touched sending him sideways. I felt really bad because Bill is a great guy and I don’t like to have contact during a race. Bill was really good about the incident and he chalked it up to “that’s racin,” exclaimed Ruman. “Thumel started working his way back up through the pack but then he got a flat front tire.”

Thumel (1:03.51) squeaked under Ruman (1:03.61) for a new track record, breaking last year’s record of 1:03.90 set by Ruman. Ruman moves into the Northeast points lead with this win.

Finishing order:

Pos PIC No. Class Name Laps
1 1 23 GT1 Amy Ruman 30
2 2 05 GT1 Jack Busch 30
3 3 51 GT1 Glenn Seward 29
4 4 89 GT1 Scott Quaile 29
5 5 1 GT1 Doug Valley 28
6 6 44 GT1 Peter Mumford 28
11 7 52 GT1 Jeanette Udwary 28
17 8 9 GT1 William Rozmajzl 26
22 9 36 GT1 Bill Thumel 24

Next up: May 28: GT-1 National at Nelson’s Ledges Road Course, Ohio

For Immediate Release: May 2, 2007
Contact: Amy Ruman 330.813.2323 cell

Munroe Falls, OH – Amy Ruman and the Ruman Racing team is heading to New Hampshire International Speedway in NH this weekend. Ruman will be driving the #23 McNichols Co./ rumanracing.com Corvette in her second race of the 2007 season.

“I am looking forward to a fast weekend. The crew has been really tweaking the car since the Summit Point National last month, so I am going for the pole and a win here,” stated Ruman.

Ruman brought home the pole and a first place at the New Hampshire National last year. She is currently in 2nd place in the Northeast Division point’s chase.

Next up: May 27 – SCCA National at Nelson’s Ledges Raceway, OH

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For Immediate Release: April 17, 2007
Contact: Amy Ruman 330.813.2323 cell

Munroe Falls, OH – The unusual happened at Summit Point Raceway, WV this past weekend – SCCA shortened the National event to a one day show due to bad weather. Drivers qualified and raced on the same day, completing the event late Saturday. The Ruman sisters finished respectfully with Amy in 2nd and Niki in 16th position. Bob Ruman chose not to race Spec Racer due to the shortened event schedule, which made his Crew Chief duties rather non-stop.

All three Ruman’s practiced on Friday’s test day in partly sunny and dry weather. The forecast for Saturday was up and down and turned out to be dry until the later part of the day. Spec Racer was group 4 and GT-1 was group 8, giving Niki a mostly dry race and Amy a wet/dry track for the start.

Niki qualified the #23 Rumanracing.com Spec Racer 18th in a deep, 31 car field. “I had a bum start and lost about 4 positions on the front straight, but I was able to gather things back up and take some positions back in the first few laps. Towards the end of the race, we had a few sprinkles of rain which made a few of the corners slippery, but the track conditions were generally good. I enjoyed the battles throughout the race!” commented Niki.

Amy qualified the #23 McNichols Co. Corvette on the pole with the only other GT-1, Bill Rozmajzl qualifying in 3rd position. It turned out that the Ruman Team helped fix their only competitor’s car after it broke during qualifying. “A bracket for the alternator needed welded on Bill’s car and we had a welder, so Mike fixed it for them,” stated Bob Ruman. “In auto racing, we are one big family and we all help each other when we can. Plus, Amy wanted to race with someone else since people packed up and left, or did not come to the event due to the nasty weather.”

The team rolled up to the grid on rain tires but the track was drying fast, forcing the crew to change to slicks on pit lane under the ‘5 minute” warning. “Bryan and Mike were awesome! They got those tires changed in 3-4 minutes, just in time for me to roll off the grid to start the race,” exclaimed Amy.

Ruman started the race and immediately jumped out to a strong lead. Ruman kept the lead and eventually stretched it 12-13 seconds. Ruman kept dropping her times – getting down to a 1:13.1, which was close to her qualifying time of a 1:12.9. Unfortunately, it did not stay dry for the whole race, and it started raining fairly hard with 6 laps to go. Ruman tried to be cautious, but spun coming out of turn 2, with 3 laps to go. She had trouble keeping the car running to get turned around, and Bill passed her. The track was too wet and there was too much of a gap for Ruman to regain the lead, leaving her to finish in second place.

“I was disappointed in myself as a driver. The crew worked so hard and then I came up short. It is difficult to negotiate these cars in the wet – the slightest wheel spin can send you right around. The race was ours to win, and unfortunately it slipped away in an instant!” stated Ruman.

Next up: May 6 – SCCA National at New Hampshire International Speedway

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For Immediate Release: April 11, 2007
Contact: Amy Ruman 330.813.2323 cell

Munroe Falls, OH – Ruman Racing heads to West Virginia this weekend to compete in the SCCA National at Summit Point. Amy will be back in the driver’s seat running the familiar #23 McNichols/SafetyToday/Cenweld Corvette in GT-1 for the weekend. Niki Ruman, who will be driving the #23 Spec Racer, will be joined by father Bob Ruman who will be saddling up in #91 in the Spec Racer field.

“Finally the season starts! It feels like a lifetime as gone by since the Runoffs in October. I am really excited to start the season off at Summit Point. We have a new paint job on the GT-1 Corvette and McNichols Co. has joined us again this year, becoming our title sponsor on the car,” exclaimed Ruman. “I will be participating in a test day either Thursday or Friday depending on the weather to shake down the car.”

Niki Ruman and Bob Ruman will be taking two spots in the full Spec Racer field this weekend.

“I am so excited to get back to racing! My last race was in August at Pocono so I am eager to get back in the car. It is always a fun race and a full field at Summit Point. It makes for a great family rivalry to have my father join me in the Spec Racer field,” stated Niki Ruman.

It has been some time since Bob Ruman has raced – since turning over the keys to the Trans-Am/Gt-1 Corvette to daughter Amy. “I have enjoyed crew chiefing for the Amy and Niki the last few years but I also have been a bit bored not racing! I have raced a Spec Racer before but it has been a while so I am eager to get out there and start running – especially against Niki,” said Ruman.

Last year at Summit Point, Amy took home the checkered in 1st place.

Next up: May 6 SCCA National at New Hampshire International Speedway

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