April 07, 2004 – Munroe Falls, OH – Ruman Racing headed to West Virginia last weekend to compete in the national at Summit Point. Both of their National drivers were back in the cars. Niki Ruman was driving the #20 Cenweld Spec Racer after a year-long break for the birth of her daughter and Amy was back after competing in the Florida winter nationals driving the #23 McNichols/Cenweld Corvette.

After three and a half days of rain, they finally hit the track Saturday afternoon. Amy qualified 2nd in the GT-1 field and Niki qualified 16th in the Spec Racer field.

“It was a wet weekend, but the weather cleared at just the right times. I was able to put together a good qualifying session to put me second on the grid. Jack (Busch) and I had a good run going and I was able to stick with him the whole race. Unfortunately, traffic got between us the last few laps, and he put a little distance between us. My crew gave me a great car this weekend and I’ll take the second place finish,” stated (A) Ruman.

“It was great to be back in the race car and have my four month old daughter, Katie, cheering me on,” said (N) Ruman. “As usual, my crew chief and husband, David Skinner gave me a perfect car. I was pleased to qualify close to my times from last year and move up from 16th to finish 13th in the 33 car Spec Racer field. I narrowly missed a turn one, lap one incident that gathered up several cars directly in front of me. From then on I primarily raced with Fred Burgos. I was quite pleased with the results.”

Next up: May 1-2: National at New Hampshire International Speedway

March 09, 2004 – Submitted by Trans-Am Staff

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LONG BEACH, Calif. (March 9, 2004) — Motorock Trans-Am Series Executive Director John Clagett announced the Series will run a 10-race schedule in 2004. The announcement was made at a press luncheon at the 2004 Trans-Am Premiere in Long Beach, Calif. Negotiations are ongoing to add a possible 11th event, which, if confirmed, will be announced at a later date.

“We are pleased to announce our 2004 schedule, one of the best in Trans-Am’s long history,” said Clagett. “We are offering a traditional mix of street, temporary airport and permanent circuits this season. It will deliver tremendous value for our marketing partners and teams.

“The schedule offers geographic diversity and taps key markets, which provide our growing fan base the opportunity to participate in the Trans-Am Series,” Clagett added. “It offers a blend of the best road courses and temporary circuits, as well as opportunities to race with the Champ Car World Series and NASCAR.”

Trans-Am will be the featured series at two events this season: Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières (Aug. 1) and at the season finale in Puerto Rico (Oct. 10). The Puerto Rico date is contingent upon Federal Aviation Administration approval.

Trans-Am will run with the Champ Car World Series at seven races this year, including the season opener April 18 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Other venues pairing Trans-Am with Champ Car are: Portland Int’l Raceway (June 19), Cleveland (July 2), the Molson Indy Toronto (July 11), as well as Road America (Aug. 7), Denver (Aug. 14), and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (Sept. 11).

NASCAR fans will again get to experience Trans-Am thunder, as the Series returns to Infineon Raceway for a second-straight year on June 27, along with the NEXTEL Cup Series.

The Motorock Trans-Am Tour features closed-fendered, production-based, V-8-powered sports cars, competing on permanent road courses, and temporary street and airport circuits throughout North America. The Trans-Am Tour is America’s oldest continuously running road racing series and celebrates its 39th anniversary in 2004.

Motorock is the creation of a popular culture brand that blends the enthusiast markets of cars, stars and guitars. It is a yearly series of destination live events that showcases the excitement of motorsports, music and lifestyle while delivering a unique new form of broadcast entertainment
programming.

2004 MOTOROCK TRANS-AM SERIES SCHEDULE

April 18, Long Beach, Calif., Temporary Street Course
June 19, Portland Int’l Raceway, Permanent Road Course
June 27, Infineon Raceway, Permanent Road Course
July 2, Cleveland, Temporary Airport Course
July 11, Toronto, Ontario, Temporary Street Course
Aug. 1, Trois-Rivières, Temporary Street Course
Aug. 7, Road America, Permanent Road Course
Aug. 14, Denver, Temporary Street Course
Sept. 11, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Permanent Road Course
Oct. 10*, Puerto Rico, Temporary Airport Course
*Pending FAA approval.
NOTE: The Series is in negotiations to add one more event.

###

January 21, 2004 – Munroe Falls, OH – Ruman Racing headed to Florida to compete in the GT-1 winter nationals at Sebring and Moroso. Piloting the McNichols/Cenweld Corvette was Amy Ruman.

At Sebring, Ruman qualified 3rd in the GT-1 field. The green flag fell, and Ruman ran the first several laps in 3rd place while Murphy and Mohrhauser diced it out between 1st and 2nd. “I was just sitting back and waiting for them to take each other out! (Ruman laughs) They were really running tight, but racing each other well. Mohrhauser went off the track just enough, and I was able to get by him.”

Later in the race, Ruman half spun, and just after that a red flag came out due to another crash in the race. On the restart, Ruman was still in 3rd. Ruman made a great pass on Mohrhauser, just after big bend heading into turn 7. She then chased down Murphy and they were running close. Ruman was trying to set up a pass heading onto the back straight when she hit some oil from a freshly blown motor. “I tried to collect it, but it was too late. I didn’t see the oil till after the fact. I dropped a few spots and just didn’t have enough laps to get my position back. One or two more laps and I think I could have had 3rd again, but I am still happy with my 4th place finish.”

The following weekend, the team headed to Moroso for the second national race. Ruman qualified an impressive 2nd on the grid. The green came out and Ruman passed Simms, who was on the pole, on the front straight, taking the lead. Ruman then consistently led the race until about lap 11, when she was passed by Leavy heading into the chicane. A couple of laps later, Ruman retook the lead through the same turn.

With about 5 laps to go, the lead pack was coming up on lapped traffic. “I was coming up on this guy and I was closing on him really fast. Unfortunately, he braked early for the turn and we had to hit the breaks — John (Leavy) and I spun in tandem! Lucky John didn’t hit me, but he was able to get going quicker. I tried to chase him down, but there just wasn’t enough time left. We had a great race going and it was good tight racing experience for me, but it was still heartbreaking to come in 2nd place.”

Next up: April 3-4: GT-1 National at Summit Point, VA

January 07, 2004 – Munroe Falls, OH – Ruman Racing is heading to Florida this week to compete in the GT-1 winter nationals at Sebring and Moroso. Amy Ruman will be running the #23 McNichols/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette. Ruman ran a full GT-1 season last year, capped with a 5th place finish at the SCCA National Valvoline Runoffs.

“I am glad we are able to run these early races in 2004 and get the season started,” stated Ruman. “The car and the team are ready to go again, and so am I. I have raced both of these tracks before in GT-1, so I am very comfortable at both locations. There should be some strong competition signed up and I’m eager to get into the drivers seat and race with them!”

December 12, 2003 – Munroe Falls, OH – Television coverage of the GT-1 SCCA National Championship Valvoline Runoffs at Mid-Ohio is set to air this weekend on SPEED channel, on Saturday, December 13 at 1:00pm ET. The race was Amy Ruman’s debut at the Valvoline Runoffs where she finished fifth.

“I am very excited to watch the coverage of our race this weekend. It was an exciting race on the track for me, so I know it will be exciting for the fans to watch on SPEED!” stated Ruman. “ My crew gave me an excellent car that day and I was really proud of our finish.”

SPEED Channel will also be running a marathon of all the Runoffs coverage on Christmas day, December 25. For more schedule information, visit www.speedtv.com.