Ruhlman and Derhaag Motorsports finish testing, continue to build on success
OMAHA, Neb. (May 18, 2005) Randy Ruhlman and Derhaag Motorsports are not resting on their laurels after winning last month¹s Long Beach Grand Prix. The team has just finished up two successful days of testing for the 2005 Trans-Am Series with the #49 Preformed Line Products Corvette. And while they may have the early Trans-Am points lead, the team spent Monday and Tuesday refining an even faster and more reliable race car, one that will help them in their pursuit of the 2005 Trans-Am Driver¹s Championship. Last year, Ruhlman finished third overall with seven Top Ten finishes in a row, three podiums finishes and a pole position. Ruhlman, who has teamed up with Derhaag Motorsports for a third year, tested the #49 Corvette at the Mid America Motorplex, just outside Omaha, Nebraska. Ruhlman said, "It was a great test. We just keep learning more and more about the car. The car is fast, but more importantly, it is consistently fast. We found out some important things here that are going to help us continue to build on our past achievements. Long Beach was a great way to start the season, and now we¹re ready to take on the tough back-to-back Trans-Am race schedule we have for the rest of the summer.² Ruhlman was third in the 2004 Trans-Am Series Driver¹s Championship after a hotly contested battle. The 2004 season saw past Champions Paul Gentilozzi, Tommy Kendall, and Ruhlman fight it out for the Driver¹s Championship in the closest points battle ever in Trans-Am history. Ruhlman was consistently fast in his #49 Preformed Line Products/ COYOTE® Closure Corvette, having scored seven straight top five finishes, including three podiums: a second at Road America, another second at Toronto, and a third at Infineon. Additionally, Ruhlman was the pole sitter for the Road America race. Randy Ruhlman is fourth overall in Trans-Am history with over 80 Top Ten finishes. He finished sixth overall in the 2003 Driver¹s Championship in a Derhaag Motorsports Corvette. Ruhlman 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". Ruhlman, a top driver in the Trans-Am Series in the Preformed Line Products/COYOTE® Closure Corvette, has also made a commitment to local and national children¹s charities. His charitable contributions include an increasingly active role in supporting the Lance Armstrong Foundation and with children¹s charities throughout the country, especially in Cleveland with the Rainbow Babies and Children¹s Hospital and their outreach programs. Ruhlman's Chevrolet Corvette is fielded 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. The familiar blue and white Corvette that Ruhlman drives for the Derhaag Motorsports team has some new additions to its Preformed Line Products-PLP and COYOTE® Closure logos for 2004. Ruhlman¹s car is always one of the most photographed cars in the paddock and will now have the added signage for Superior® Modular Products, VORTX??? Vibration Damper and GUY-GRIP® Dead-ends. Superior Modular Products is a subsidiary of Preformed Line Products, specializing in high-speed data communications products. The VORTX??? Vibration Damper is a new product from PLP designed to limit the effects of wind-induced vibration on electric transmission lines. The GUY-GRIP® Dead-end is a helically formed wire product used primarily by electric power utilities and communications companies to terminate wire strand. Founded in 1947, Preformed Line Products is an international designer and manufacturer of products and systems employed in the construction and maintenance of overhead and underground networks for energy, communications and broadband network companies. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the Company operates three domestic manufacturing centers, located in Rogers, Arkansas, Albemarle, North Carolina and Asheville, North Carolina. Preformed serves worldwide markets through international operations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain and Thailand. http://www.ruhlmanmotorsports.com <http://www.ruhlmanmotorsports.com/>