Top Corvette Driver Randy Ruhlman Set to Defend Podium
Finishes at Trois-Rivieres Trans-Am Race
Greensboro, NC (July 27, 2004) -- Randy Ruhlman will be returning this
weekend to defend his repeat podium finishes at the Grand Prix of Trois
Rivieres in Round Six of the Motorock Trans-Am Series. Ruhlman finished
second at Trois Rivieres in 2002 and third in last yearıs Trans-Am race
driving the blue and white #49 Preformed Line Products Canada/Coyote Closure
Corvette.
The top Corvette driver in the Trans-Am Series, Ruhlman will also be going
into this next round of racing with an impressive string of top finishes.
Ruhlman, currently third in the Driversı Championship points race, scored a
second place finish two weeks ago in Toronto, a fourth at Cleveland, and
another podium, a third, at Infineon Raceway. The second at Toronto by
Ruhlman gave Corvette its highest finish thus far in the 2004 Trans-Am
Series season.
Ruhlman will be joined on the Derhaag Motorsports roster for the second
time this year by a teammate. Top Corvette factory driver and Canadian Ron
Fellows rejoins Ruhlman for second two-car Corvette assault on the Jaguars
at this very fast, tight street course. Two weekıs ago, Ruhlman and Fellows
finished second and third at Toronto and the two Corvette drivers hope to
surpass that double podium finish with a first and second at Trois Rivieres.
Fellows is a two time winner at Trois Rivieres (1995 and 1996), and Ruhlman
was part of the one-two Corvette finish at Trois Rivieres in 2002 with his
teammate at Tom Gloy Racing, Butch Leitzinger.
Ruhlman calls Trois Rivieres, ³one of my favorite tracks and stops in the
Trans-Am Series.² ³Whether it is the track, or the excitement the city
generates, this race is always one that I look forward to year after year.
We are always fast here and have always run well, too. We have even had our
share of final lap excitement. I love to race in Canada, and have always
done well up here for the fans. Also, I am very happy with the way things
are going this year. And that is a factor, confidence breeds confidenceı.
I know I can win a race, and I know I can do well here. We are knocking on
the door, and this would be a great place to get a win. It will be fun
again for Ron and I to go out and race together and try to be on the podium
together like Toronto. It is a unique pleasure to share the podium with a
teammate,² states Ruhlman.
³I have a great deal of faith in this car and in what I can do with it,²
remarks Randy Ruhlman. ³So far this year, things have gone really well, and
the car is working the way I like it. Weıve run fast each race, and every
session we have gotten better. We are building on our successes, and the
crew is doing a great job for us. I canıt say enough about the efforts they
have made to get us up front. Ron was a big help in the other Derhaag
Motorsports Corvette. It is great to have someone to work with who knows
the cars, and, even more importantly, we like the same things in setup. We
now have the ability to try different things on each car and see which is
the best. Ron and I work well together and are good friends, and that's an
added bonus,² finishes Ruhlman.
The 66 lap, 100.32 mile Motorock Trans-Am race will be run on Sunday, August
1st at 3:45PM EDT. The track is a 1.52-mile, nine turn temporary street
course located in the town of Trois Rivieres, about an hour east of
Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Le Grand Prix du Trois-Rivieres will be Ruhlmanıs 143rd start in Trans-Am.
Ruhlman is currently third in the Driversı Championship points after Round
Five of the Motorock Trans-Am Series at Toronto. Ruhlman is just sixteen
points behind leader Paul Gentilozzi and fourteen points from Diaz in
second. A win in Trans-Am is worth 30 points, second 27, third 25, fourth
23, fifth 21, and down by one point from there. A bonus point is available
for leading a lap, winning the qualifying pole and for leading the most laps
in a race.
Randy Ruhlman finished sixth overall in 2003 in the Driversı
Championship in a Derhaag Motorsports Corvette. He was seventh overall in
2002, driving for Tom Gloy Racing, with a second (and a 3rd in 2003) at
Trois Rivieres and third at Miami. Ruhlman was awarded the 2002 BBS Wheels
"Most Improved Driver of the Year". Randy Ruhlman is fifth overall in Top
Ten finishes in Trans-Am history.
Ruhlman's Chevrolet Corvette is fielded this year by the
Minneapolis-based, Derhaag Motorsports, 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, 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.
