TRANS-AM SEASON OPENER AT ST PETERSBURG GRAND PRIX

 

St. Petersburg, FL (Feb 23) ­ The inaugural 2003 Grand Prix of St.
Petersburg today marked the return of rolling thunder to the streets of
downtown St. Petersburg.  It also marked the 56-lap season opener of the
Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup.  Twenty of the country¹s top
sports car specialists took the start on the 14-turn, 1.78 mile course.

 

Randy Ruhlman, the 2002 winner of the BBS Wheels ³Most Improved Driver of
the Year², campaigned the familiar #49 blue and white Preformed Line
Products/Coyote Closure Chevrolet Corvette to a heartbreaking thirteen place
finish, after his car suddenly ran out of gas with eight laps left.  Closing
in on fifth place at the time, Ruhlman was forced to limp to the pits where
he took on needed fuel, losing a lap to the leaders in the process, and
dashing all hopes of another top five finish.

 

Making his 127th start in Trans-Am, Ruhlman had the dual task of debuting a
new car and making his first Trans-Am start with his new team, Derhaag
Motorsports.  Practice and qualifying were used to try to find a setup that
worked for the wide-open street course.  Qualifying only twelfth, major
adjustments were made for the Sunday morning warm-up and finally some more
refinements were made for the 4PM race.

 

³The car didn¹t handle all that well in the beginning of the race.  It was
hard to find a good balance and get grip in both the front and rear of the
car.  After the tires got some heat in them and we burned off some fuel, the
car came in nicely and I was able to move up through the field,² said
Ruhlman. ³We had a yellow flag about half way into the race and I had a
chance to get back some of the distance I had lost in the beginning.  After
that, I was able to set guys up and pass pretty easily.  With about ten laps
left, we had a final yellow to bunch the field, and we had made it up to
seventh.  I was closing in on Hayner [who finished fifth], and suddenly we
had no power.  We had run out of fuel.  I had to use the starter to ³bump
start² myself back to the pits, but it was a long way from Turn 10 to the
pits.  It was frustrating seeing a top five just pulled away like that.²

 

³The guys are going to figure out what went wrong,² continued Ruhlman.  ³We
knew we were going to be tight on fuel if it went green the whole way, but
with the yellows we should have made it. Once the crew gets back to the shop
and takes apart the fuel cell, we should know more.  The really encouraging
thing is that we were able to take an absolutely brand new race car and make
it a fast, top runner.  We have a strong car.  It is just unfortunate that
sometimes these things have to happen.  With five weeks to go before Long
Beach, it gives the crew plenty of time to sort things out.  I always look
forward to going back to Long Beach and I know that we will be extremely
competitive.²

 

In addition to the on-track racing activities, Ruhlman was among a group of
Trans-Am drivers, who donated their time Saturday afternoon to visiting kids
in the All Children¹s Hospital in St. Petersburg.  The drivers signed
autographs and visited with children at the largest pediatric oncology
center in the area.

 

Ruhlman has hooked up for 2003 with Minneapolis based, Derhaag Motorsports.
The team has fielded many successful drivers, including top Trans-Am drivers
Justin Bell, Kenny Wilden, Tony Ave, Dorsey Schroeder, Chris Neville and
Darin Brassfield.  Jim Derhaag himself made 150 starts as a driver in the
Trans-Am Series before his successful move to full time ownership in 1998.

 

Preformed Line Products (PLP) is an international manufacturer and supplier
of hardware and support systems for the communications and energy
industries.  Products include the COYOTE® Closure and GUY-GRIP® Dead-End
used in the telecommunications, cable and energy industries.  Manufacturing
facilities are located worldwide in the USA, Canada, China, Brazil, Mexico,
England, Spain, South Africa, Australia and Japan.