Ruhlman Scores another Fast Five Qualifying in Trans-Am at Denver Grand Prix
Denver, CO (August 13, 2004)— Randy Ruhlman in the Preformed Line Products/Coyote Closure Corvette scored another Fast Five Qualifying today by placing fifth for tomorrow’s Round 8 race of the Motorock Trans-Am Series at the Grand Prix of Denver. Ruhlman, the pole sitter for last week’s race, could not overcome the record setting time of the Jaguar of Tommy Kendall, who won today’s pole. It was Kendall who took over the race lead from Ruhlman at last week’s race at Road America on Lap 19 of 25 and went on to win with Ruhlman finishing second. Kendall is second in Drivers’ Championship points and Ruhlman is just three points back in a tie for third. With a time of 1:13.792, Ruhlman improved on his practice time by almost a half-second, but it was not enough to break into the top Jaguar group. "We made some changes for qualifying, and some of them were working. But we still have some things that we could improve on. I am having a bit of trouble with my brakes, I even spun on Lap 2 of the qualifying session. My tires are fine, but it threw my rhythm off. This was not my best drive either, I think I was trying too hard. I am going to go back to the hotel and relax and be ready to move up in the race tomorrow. I know we will have a good car and should be fine for the race. We will work on a few things in the morning practice, too, so that will give us some extra track time," says Ruhlman . With just three scheduled races left in the 2004 Motorock Trans-Am season, the top four Trans-Am drivers, Paul Gentilozzi, Tommy Kendall, Jorge Diaz and Randy Ruhlman, are within just nine points of each other. Ruhlman, whose pole and second place finish this past weekend at Road America gave him added points, has been consistently fast in his #49 Preformed Line Products/ Coyote Closure Corvette having scored five straight, top four finishes this year. Ruhlman has three podiums so far this year, Road America, another second at Toronto, and a third at Infineon. The Denver Grand Prix will be Ruhlman’s 145th start in Trans-Am. He is the leading Corvette driver in the Series and has scored Corvette’s highest finish of the year. The race will be broadcast LIVE on HDNet, Saturday, August 14th at 6:15 PM ET, as well as on the "Dangerous Curves" highlight show on SPIKE TV on Sunday, August 22nd at 10AM ET. Randy Ruhlman finished sixth overall in 2003 in the Driver’s Championship in a Derhaag Motorsports Corvette. He was seventh overall in 2002 while 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. 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.