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Miami Trans-am Qualifying

MOTOROCK TRANS-AM TOUR DRIVER RANDY RUHLMAN TO DEFEND PODIUM FROM FOURTH ROW
AT MIAMI GRAND PRIX
Miami, FL (Sept 26)  -- Randy Ruhlman, the 2002 Trans-Am Series "Most
Improved Driver of the Year" will attempt to defend his third place finish
in last year's Trans-Am from the seventh qualifying position.  Ruhlman is
the highest finishing returning driver to the downtown Miami street course
and is making his 136th start in Trans-Am this weekend.  Ruhlman is
currently sixth overall in points in the newly named MotoRock Trans-Am Tour
for the BFGoodrich Tires® Cup.

Ruhlman, who was third in yesterday's practice sessions, was disappointed
with the seventh place starting position.  "The car was just not as good as
it was yesterday.  I lost almost a full second in one section of the track,
and had a really hard time getting the car to go fast.  Some of it was the
car, we are going to fix the push and the gearing a bit, but some of it was
me, too.  I really wanted to be up front and I probably just pushed the car
too hard," said Ruhlman.

" The weather here is a big variable.  It may rain late on Sunday, just when
we run, so it may just be a survival race on the street course.  If it stays
dry, we may have to stay up front and then wait until the other guys burn
down.  A lot of us were really close in time in qualifying, and passing here
is hard enough when you have a lot of speed on someone.  With close cars, I
am just going to have to bide my time and take advantage of the situation as
it comes my way.  Our car always is there at the end, so we will just have
to see how it plays out," finishes Ruhlman.

The 4:30 EDT race is scheduled 87 laps of the 1.15-mile track, or 75
minutes.  The Miami race will air on Speed, tape-delayed on Oct. 10 at 9PM
EDT.  Ruhlman is currently sixth in driver's championship points with two
races remaining, just twenty points from fifth.  He has moved steadily
forward after a difficult start to the season.  The MotoRock Trans-Am Tour
for the BFGoodrich Tires® Cup will travel for its final race to San Juan
Puerto Rico on October 26th.

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Ruhlman's Chevrolet Corvette is fielded this year by the Minneapolis-based,
Derhaag Motorsports team, 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.



CONTACT:
Cristi Brumm Ruhlman
336-210-0980
marketing@ruhlmanmotorsports.com
www.ruhlmanmotorsports.com

- 
Cristi Ruhlman
Ruhlman Marketing
336-210-0980 phone
336-282-4949 fax