Ruhlman top Corvette, fourth at Trois Rivieres Trans-Am

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact Cristi Brumm

                   
336-210-0980

marketing@ruhlmanmotorsports.com

 

RANDY RUHLMAN TOP CORVETTE AT LE GRAND PRIX DE TROIS-RIVIERES

FINISHES FOURTH IN HOTLY CONTESTED TRANS-AM RACE

 

Trois-Rivieres, Quebec (Aug 2) -- Top Trans-Am driver Randy Ruhlman finished
fourth in today¹s BFGoodrich Tires® Trans-Am race at Trois Rivieres, Quebec.
The top drivers raced nose to tail for more than two thirds of the 65 lap
the street course race with less than 5 seconds separating first from
seventh.  Ruhlman worked his way to fourth place, fell back to eighth and
then worked his way back to finish fourth overall, the first Chevrolet
Corvette behind the podium trio of Rocketsports Jaguars.

 

Ruhlman remarked after the race, ³I guess we have made a lot of progress
this year when we can honestly say we are disappointed with a fourth place.
But, I wouldn¹t be honest if I didn¹t say it is frustrating.  The car was
good.  I was just waiting until the last third of the race to take these
guys.  I could see them using up their tires.  We all had about the same
fast lap times, and no one was going anywhere. I had a great back and forth
trying to pass Mike Lewis, but I missed a shift and he took off.  I had to
make up about 3 seconds just to get back up to him.²

 

³I was in fifth for the last restart and that really caused a problem. The
start of the race was actually clean, but there are some guys out here who
see the first turn of the final restart as their big chance.  Some are
rookies, some are not.  Unfortunately, a lot of times Œbonsai driving¹
doesn¹t work.  I chose to make the corner and not get taken out, and lost
four places.  With only 16 laps left in the race, I had a good bit of real
estate to make up and five cars to pass to get to the podium.  When I
finally got to fourth and passed Claude Bourbonnais, there weren¹t enough
laps left to get back up to third.  That is frustrating.  You wonder, in
hindsight, if you shouldn¹t have taken the chance and risked getting taken
out at the restart.  Especially finishing just one place from the podium,
that is frustrating.²

 

Last year, Ruhlman finished second just behind his Tom Gloy Racing Corvette
teammate Butch Leitzinger in the 100-mile race at Trois-Rivieres after
qualifying eighth.  Today¹s fourth place finish is his second fourth of the
year, The other was a fourth place at Mosport, Ontario.  Ruhlman is now just
2 points from sixth in the overall Driver¹s Championship points.

 

            The 65 lap race on the 1.52 mile, 9 turn temporary street course
was run at 1PM EDT tomorrow Saturday, August 2 and shown Live on Speed
Channel.  Preformed Line Products Canada entertained its guests and long
time supporters at the race at Trois Rivieres.  Preformed Line Products
Canada is located in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.

 

The Trans-Am series will travel to Road America on August 26th and then to
Denver with CART on Labor Day weekend.

 

Ruhlman made his 133rd start in Trans-Am in a Chevrolet Corvette fielded
this year by the Minneapolis-based, Derhaag Motorsports. The team is led by
former Trans-Am driver Jim Derhaag.  Jim Derhaag himself made 150 starts as
a driver in the Trans-Am Series before his successful move to full time
ownership in 1998.  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.

 

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.

 

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