Munroe Falls, Ohio – Amy Ruman finished in 2nd place in round 4 of the Trans Am Championship in a very exciting race in front of the Victoria Day Castrol Speedfest Canadian crowd at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) in Bomanville, Ontario, Canada.
Ruman and her No. 23 McNichols Co. Corvette were quick right out of the trailer during the track test day, keeping pace with front runner, road racing legend Ron Fellows who joined the Trans Am field this weekend. Fellows appearance marked his 100th Trans Am start, his first since 2004.
The Canadian weather was not cooperating for the beginning of the weekend, as both official practices saw rain and cold temperatures. However, the rain let up and the track dried for qualifying. Ruman qualified 3rd on the grid, with Simon Gregg edging her out of 2nd place by just .079 of a second. Fellows grabbed the pole, and Trans Am points leader Doug Peterson was 4th.
The field had two pace laps to warm the tires due to the extremely cool weather. The green flag flew and Ruman had a good start and immediately passed Gregg into turn one. She settled in behind Fellows and the two put distance on Peterson who had slotted into 3rd. Peterson didn’t last long and he was forced to pull off with a mechanical failure, putting Gregg back into a distant 3rd.
Fellows and Ruman held closely the top two positions after several full course cautions and restarts. On the final restart, Ruman turned up the wick and was fiercely pressuring Fellows for the lead with 6 laps to go. The #6 of Fellows started to fall off pace with a few laps to go and it turned out he had a rear tire going down slowly. Ruman tried to get around him, but he was able to hold her off when they crossed the finish line, at only a gap of 1.8 seconds.
“What a great race,” stated Ruman. “The #23 was fast all weekend and I was pleased with our performance against Fellows, Gregg, and Peterson. We really had something for Ron, especially on that last restart. We were nose to tail all the way into 5, I took a few looks but couldn’t make them stick. I don’t think that his rear tire wouldn’t have lasted one more lap. Fellows has a million miles here and he practically owns this track, so I was very happy that we kept such a good pace with him.”
This was Ruman’s second podium finish for the year. She made significant ground in the hunt for the Championship, moving up from 5th to 3rd. Peterson is still in front with 103 points, Gregg with 98, and Ruman with 95. As the teams head to New Jersey at the end of the month, the Championship race is shaping up to be very interesting.
Sponsor: 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.
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.
Race Info/Scoring/Results: www.gotransam.com
Live Timing/Twitter Feed: www.gotransam.com/live-timing-and-scoring/
Looking ahead: Round 5 – New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville, NJ (June 1) || Round 6 – Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI (June 21)
Ruman Racing, Inc., is based in Munroe Falls, Ohio.
