Derhaag Motorsports returns to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Derhaag Motorsports No. 40 Preformed Line Products Daytona Prototype CONTACT: Cristi Brumm 1-336-210-0980 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Derhaag Motorsports returns to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, OH (June 21, 2006) Derhaag Motorsports returns this weekend to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the 250-mile EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank. The team is fielding a Daytona Prototype in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve with drivers Chris Bingham and Randy Ruhlman. The #40 Preformed Line Products Pontiac Riley carries additional sponsorship from KeyBank, the presenting sponsor of the race, and McDonald Financial Group. This will be a big weekend for the team and drivers as KeyBank and Preformed Line Products, both based in the Cleveland, Ohio area, have large contingents of fans and customers attending the Saturday evening race. The cars take to the pavement on Thursday for a track sponsored test day on the 2.258-mile, 15-turn road course. Practice and qualifying begin on Friday with race day activities and practice scheduled for Saturday. The large Grand American Rolex Cup field of 27 Daytona Prototype cars and 20 GT cars will be ready to take the green flag on Saturday, June 24th at 5:30 PM for the three-hour race. Derhaag Motorsports has a wealth of experience at Mid-Ohio. The team competed regularly at the course during its tenure in Trans-Am, as did driver Randy Ruhlman. Chris Bingham won here driving the Saleen S7 in the GTS class in 2001 and has competed at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the Daytona Prototypes as well. Chris Bingham says of returning to Mid-Ohio with KeyBank and the #40 Derhaag Motorsports Daytona Prototype, "I've always enjoyed driving at this track. This race is especially important for our team, as our primary sponsors, Preformed Line Products, and KeyBank and McDonald Financial Group, will be hosting hospitality events at the track. To have locally based, yet nationally recognized sponsors, is a huge bonus for our team and we're looking forward to putting on a good show for them." "For me, this is the second year that KeyBank and McDonald Financial will be here for the race. They brought a number of clients and guests to last year's race and have expanded their racing involvement to include being the presenting sponsor of the race. The level of knowledge and interest in our series from our sponsors is very rewarding. I've won here before, so I am certainly hoping for good results this time around, too! Unfortunately, last year, we weren't so lucky in the #15 CB Motorsports Daytona Prototype, when I got hit from behind and pushed into the gravel trap before a lap was completed. Now, I'm really looking forward to returning to Mid-Ohio and continuing the progress we've made so far this year in the #40 Derhaag Motorsports car," concludes Bingham. KeyCorp is based in Cleveland and is one of the nation¹s largest bank based financial service companies, while McDonald Financial Group acts as the private investment and private banking side of KeyCorp. Preformed Line Products (PLP), based just outside of Cleveland in Mayfield Village, Ohio, is an international manufacturer and supplier of hardware and support systems for the communications and energy industries. Television coverage of Round 9 of the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will be shown tape delayed on SPEED Channel on Sunday, June 25th at 3 PM ET. Chris Bingham, the two-time Grand American GTS champion, was a top competitor in Daytona Prototypes last year. Randy Ruhlman just came off a successful 2005 season in the Trans-Am Series with wins at both the Cleveland Grand Prix and the Long Beach Grand Prix. Bingham, of Bellevue, Washington, is a professional racing driver with an impressive resume and years of experience. He has competed in the Busch Grand National Series, open wheel racing in Indy Lights, as well as IRL, and has extensive endurance racing experience. As a two-time Rolex Sports Car Series GTS champion, Bingham was nominated as one of the "Best Road Racers of the Year" in 2002. He made his return to full time Rolex Series racing in 2004, piloting the #15 CB Motorsports car, before joining the Derhaag Motorsports team for 2006. Ruhlman was named the 2005 BBS "Most Improved Driver of the Year", won the 2005 Cleveland Grand Prix Trans-Am race and, Long Beach Grand Prix and was runner up for the 2005 Trans-Am Drivers' Championship. Ruhlman makes the record books as fourth in Top Ten finishes in Trans-Am history. Ruhlman from Greensboro, NC has been a professional race car driver since his Rookie year in Trans-Am in 1990 and has extensive racing experience, predominantly in road racing in the Trans-Am Series, as well as in IMSA, ASA and the NASCAR short track series. Derhaag Motorsports Pontiac Riley carries primary sponsorship from Preformed Line Products with additional sponsorship logos of Coyote Closures®, Park Place Ltd, KeyBank and McDonald Financial Group. 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 Thailand. Cleveland-based KeyCorp is one of the nation¹s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $92 billion. Key companies provide investment management, retail and commercial banking, consumer finance, and investment banking products and services to individuals and companies throughout the United States and, for certain businesses, internationally. McDonald Financial Group offers comprehensive financial services to affluent individuals from 87 offices in 15 states. As part of Cleveland-based KeyCorp , McDonald Financial Group combines the capabilities of McDonald Investments Inc.'s Private Client Group, member NASD/NYSE/SIPC, and Key PrivateBank. McDonald Financial Group offers banking, estate planning, financial planning, retirement planning, brokerage, trust, individual asset management, insurance advice and services, and charitable giving counsel. For further information about the drivers, sponsor, team, please visit the following links: Derhaag Motorsports http://www.derhaag.com/ <http://www.derhaag.com/> Randy Ruhlman http://www.randyruhlman.com/ <http://www.randyruhlman.com/> Chris Bingham http://www.chrisbingham.com <http://www.chrisbingham.com/> / Preformed Line Products http://www.preformed.com/ <http://www.preformed.com/> KeyBank http://www.key.com <http://www.key.com/> / McDonald Financial Group http://www.key.com/mfg <http://www.key.com/mfg> # # # To unsubscribe, please reply to this message with the word ³unsubscribe² in the subject line