For Immediate Release: July 8, 2013
Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
media@sundaymanagement.com
(317) 908-2975-Mobile
Watkins Glen, NY (8 July 2013) – Ruman Racing dominated at Watkins Glen International over the weekend as the Ohio-based team traveled to upstate New York for the SCCA Watkins Glen Super Tour Double Major event which saw Amy Ruman drive the No. 23 McNichols Company Corvette to victory lane in both Saturday and Sunday’s GT-1 events.
Friday’s qualifying sessions saw Ruman Racing quickly up to speed, converting that pace into two front-row starts when she put the No. 23 McNichols machine on the pole in Race 1 with a time of 1:50.155-seconds and then on the outside pole for Race 2 with a lap of 1:50.577-seconds.
Saturday’s 14-lap race saw Ruman take a flag-to-flag victory when she opened from the pole position and grew her lead to a nearly 10-second advantage over the rest of the GT-1 field. A late-race caution eliminated that gap with the field bunching back up in the final stages of the race, but with only two laps remaining, the event finished under the caution with Ruman taking the victory.
Ruman looked to carry that winning momentum into Race 2 on Sunday as she started from the front row to open the second 14-lap race of the weekend at the 3.4-mile road course. At the drop of the green flag, Ruman slotted into second hot on the tail of the lead car. A tight pack of four cars remained at the front and Ruman made her move on Lap 3 to take over the point. The lead group continued to run at a rapid pace as the top-three cars ran lap times less than a second off of the track record.
Ruman once again showed strength at the wheel of her No. 23 McNichols Corvette and extended her lead to a five second advantage.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing to the checkered flag for Ruman as she encountered lapped cars that were having their own side-by-side battle. Trying to get by them, she was forced off track to avoid making contact and that allowed the second place car of Dillon Machavern to close the gap. As the two went side-by-side on the final lap, Ruman prevailed when a late-braking maneuver by Machavern saw his car land in the gravel trap and Ruman take the victory with a 13.565-second margin.
“I got blocked pretty good by the lapped traffic and the timing was better for Dillon (Machavern) than for me and I almost got hit. I got in the grass a little and gathered it back up but by then Dillon caught me,” said Ruman of the final lap. “It got real interesting on the last lap because Dillon could have got me but he tried the outside at the top of the boot (Turn 
and he found out that that is not where you want to be. A big thanks to McNichols for being with us and to the whole crew as well, they’ve all put in a lot of effort and it showed again this weekend!”
The result marked Ruman’s fourth U.S. Major win of the year. She also added to her record of success at Watkins Glen with a total of five GT-1 wins and nine GT-1 podiums at the famed road course.
It was a busy weekend for the Ruman Racing squad as Ruman’s sister Niki Ruman Skinner competed in the Spec Racer Ford division and made the best out of a frustrating race weekend which included some mechanical issues as well as early-race contact in race one leaving her to fight back up the order. She finished 24th in Race 1 and 25th in Race 2.
“Those were not the kind of races we were hoping to have, but it was still good to get back to the track and go racing again,” said Niki. “After having the luck that we did, it was great to see Amy at least have the weekend that she did with the wins. But no matter what happened at the track, it was just great to get to spend time as a family over the holiday weekend.”
Up next for Ruman Racing is Round 6 of the Trans Am Championship at the team’s home track of Mid-Ohio on August 17.
Sponsors: McNICHOLS Nationwide Service Centers 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 Goodyear Tire & Rubber is a Ruman Racing sponsor as well as the Series sponsor.
For quick news and updates during race weekends, please follow Ruman Racing and the Trans-Am Series on Twitter @rumanracing and@gotransam. Be sure to “Like” our official pages on Facebook: Ruman Racing, Amy Ruman (Official Fan Page), McNichols Company, and Go Trans Am.
Looking ahead: Round 6 – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio (August 17 || Round 7 – Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minnesota (September 1)
Ruman Racing, Inc., is based in Munroe Falls, Ohio.
