Munroe Falls, Ohio – Ruman and team headed south for Trans Am Championship Presented by Pirelli 2021 season opener at Sebring International Raceway in Florida this past weekend, however the outcome was not one they had anticipated.
Coming back from the offseason and no offseason testing, Ruman had little time in the car prior to qualifying. Teams had a test session Friday morning, but the second TA session that afternoon was rained out. In Saturday’s one official practice session Ruman had a decent fifth. She fell a little short in qualifying the No. 23 McNichols/Cornertech Chevrolet Corvette in seventh position for the Sunday afternoon race.
The sunshine state provided a glorious weather weekend for the drivers and teams, and race day was perfect racing weather with temperatures in the sunny 70’s. Ruman was confident to have a good start, keep pace, and let the race come to her and ultimately move up through the pack. She gained a spot after Simon Gregg suffered a mechanical issue off the grid and had a good start challenging Justin Marks’ Corvette on the outside of turn one but had to fall back in line by turn two. Ruman tried to keep pace with the lead pack but in the end did not have the car to do it and maintained sixth place for the rest of the race.
“Even though we didn’t make the podium this weekend, we had a solid top ten finish. Our handling was a bit off and overall grip was the issue; we were super-fast on the straights but struggled in the tight stuff. Sebring is a tough track on a car and super bumpy,” stated Ruman. “It’s early in the season—on to Road Atlanta!”
Ernie Francis Jr. leads the TA class championship after Round 1 with 32 points, followed by Chris Dyson in second – 31, Adam Andretti in third – 26, Tomy Drissi in forth – 26, Justin Marks sits in fifth – 21, and Amy Ruman is sixth – with 20 points. The 2021 SpeedTour travels to Road Atlanta, GA, March 26-28th. Please visit gotransam.com, speedtour.net, svra.com for tickets, schedules, and all other weekend information.
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Ruman Racing, Inc., is based in Munroe Falls, Ohio.
