Munroe Falls, Ohio – After a long hot weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park this weekend for the Hank Sauce Weekend of Thunder presented by MPT Industries, in what looked to be victory number four in a row for Amy Ruman at the Thunderbolt track, fate did not go her way.
Ruman (01:17.312) qualified just off the pole position on Saturday, taking second to Cliff Ebben (01:17.069), with Paul Fix (01:17.321) starting third. The start of the 45-lap race saw hot and steamy temperatures at 92 degrees with slippery track conditions. The field came into turn one and stayed clean, Ebben, Ruman, and Fix fell into line. Ruman paced herself for a few laps, then overtook Ebben for first on lap 3. Ruman set a nice pace gapping the field and virtually uncontested, when a mid-race caution bunched up the field again.
On the restart it was Ruman, Fix, and Ebben. Ruman and Fix broke away from the pack again, with Fix staying close, but Ruman keeping him at bay. With just 2 laps to go, the leaders came upon several lapped TA3 cars. Ruman got jammed coming onto the front straight by one of them, allowing Fix to catch the draft and get a run on her. Fix made the pass and the pair went side by side through turns one and two. A car allowed Fix to get by, and then pulled in front of Ruman for a block heading into the last lap, and Ruman made contact with the TA3 car and spun. After leading 39 of the 45 laps, victory slipped away as she remained in 2nd to take the checkered flag.
“After leading most of the race in very hot, slippery, challenging conditions, this was a really frustrating loss for us,” stated Ruman. “It’s a shame that all that work came down to getting blocked; one of the main problems with mulit-class racing. Traffic is always an issue for us, and this time it played against me and Fix got to capitalize on it. This No. 23 McNichols Co. Corvette was the car to beat today and it sure would have been nice to have that 4th victory here. Well, on to the next round, and we are still leading the championship points so that’s what the big picture is all about right now!”
In the hunt for her second Championship, Ruman maintains the points lead in TA class with 118 points, David Pintaric moves into second with 81, followed by Kerry Hitt who slips to third with 79. The Ryan Companies Independence Day Classic will be held July 2-3, at Brainerd International Raceway for Round 5 of the 2016 Trans Am Championship.
Sponsor: 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.
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Race Info/Scoring/Results: www.gotransam.com Live Timing/Twitter Feed: www.gotransam.com/live-timing-and-scoring/
