Munroe Falls, Ohio – For the second year in a row, the Road America Trans Am race was rain soaked for the teams. Ruman and team were looking to bounce back to the podium this weekend, but early race issues prevented that from happening.
In a dry qualifying session and after shooting to the top of the charts, Ruman in her No. 23 McNichols Co. Corvette was bumped out of 2nd place towards the end of the session, coming in at 5th place in a tight battle among the competitors – Martin Ragginger (02:06.278), Ernie Francis Jr. (02:07.246), Cliff Ebben (02:07.362), Vinnie Allegretta (02:07.442), and Amy Ruman (02:07.718).
Unfortunately, those same dry weather conditions did not continue for the early Sunday morning race. The track was soaked and it was raining when the drivers took to the track. Ruman immediately had visibility and fogging issues on her windshield and was forced to pit lane as the green flag flew. The crew went old school and handed her a makeshift squeegee, and back on track she went falling to dead last. She worked her way back to finish in 6th.
“So disappointing once again for us. For some reason all of our rain tricks just didn’t work for us this time, so I had to come in right away. I just kept wiping a small area to see out of, sometimes 3 times a lap. Once the rain let up it helped toward the end of the race. It took forever for a full race caution to come out to give us any kind of a chance, thank goodness it finally did. I was able to pass about 4 guys, I think, in the final laps, working us back up to finish in 6th. The good news is we don’t have any body work to do after this rain race, the bad news is we didn’t have the best finish.”
Ruman – 147 remains in 4th place in the race for the 2017 Trans Am Championship presented by Pirelli, Ernie Francis, Jr. continues to lead with 232 points, followed by Vincent Allegretta – 185, and Simon Gregg – 150.
TV Broadcast info:
Don’t forget to tune into the Mid-Ohio coverage of both races on CBS Sports Network. The TA race will be 10:00pm ET on Wednesday, August 30, 2017 and the TA2 race will be broadcast at 10:30pm ET on Wednesday, September 6, 2017.
The Trans Am Road America Classic – TA/TA3/TA4 race at Road America will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network, airing on Wednesday, September 20 at 10:00 p.m. ET, followed by the TA2 Road America Muscle Car Challenge Wednesday, September 27 at 7:00p.m. ET.
SPONSORS: McNICHOLS CO. is the nation’s largest distributor of Perforated and Expanded Metals; Wire Mesh; Bar, Plank, and Safety Gratings; Stair Treads; Matting; and more. Products are carried in all styles and materials–stocked for 24 hour shipment. “Inspired to Serve”™ 800.237.3820 mcnichols.com.
OMP Racing, Inc., OMP Racing is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of racing safety equipment and tuning accessories with a catalog of over 3,000 different items. Operating from a technologically advanced 80,000 sqft facility in Italy, OMP products are renowned for its quality, the meticulous attention to details that is constantly challenged by setting higher standards. For products and information visit ompamerica.com or ompsport.com.
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Race Info/Scoring/Results: www.gotransam.com Ruman Racing, Inc., is based in Munroe Falls, Ohio.
