First Woman to Win a Trans-Am Race   ~   Finishes 3^rd in Trans-Am Championship Points

Photo Credit: Matthew Boyce/SCCA

Munroe Falls, OH  – Amy Ruman and the Ruman Racing Team clinched their first Trans-Am victory Friday at the 2011 SCCA Trans-Am season finale at Road Atlanta’s ALMS Petit Le Mans week.  Ruman becomes the first woman to win a Trans-Am race in the 45 year history of the Series.  The win, in addition to her other podium finishes this season, placed Ruman 3^rd in the Trans-Am Championship points final standings. 

Ruman and the team were in the top 3 in the 31 car field all week in practice and qualifying.  Ruman qualified 3^rd for the race, having been bumped from 2^nd by Michael Lewis in the final lap of qualifying by 0.124 seconds. Friday afternoon’s 40-lap, 101.6-mile Trans-Am race lasted 1 hour and 23 minutes with five full-course cautions with good weather and close racing.  

Ruman had a good start in the #23 McNichols Co./Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette, passing Michael Lewis into turn 1 to take 2^nd place. Lewis then passed Ruman back on lap 3 and the top-3, Tony Ave, Lewis, Ruman remained running close together.  Race leader Ave then encountered a mechanical problem and retired from the race on lap 22. Lewis and Ruman continued dueling for first place in between several full-course cautions.  On lap 36, as the field took the green after the fourth full-course caution, Ruman got a jump on Lewis and passed him in turn 1. On lap 37, the field went under full-course caution for a crash and the remaining three laps in the race were run under yellow, with Ruman taking the win.

“It feels great,” Ruman said. “I feel like it’s long overdue for our team, but I’m excited to be up here. We worked really hard race after race and unfortunately, our best results were always third.  We couldn’t seem to break that barrier the last couple years.  I led at Brainerd and then it started raining, and it just seemed like there was always something blocking our way, mechanical problems or getting hit.”

“This is just a great way to finish the year for our team, especially McNichols Co. and Goodyear.  They’ve been backing me for years and I finally delivered a win. The timing worked out for us. I was just patient trying to keep everybody at bay and if they got around me, I was just going to hold off to the end of the race and make my move. Unfortunately for Mike, he made a mistake and I capitalized on it and another yellow came back out.  You’ve got to race to the checkered flag and that’s what we did.  Even on those last caution laps, those were the longest ones of my life, because I didn’t know if they were going to hurry up and go one more [green lap].  But I just was patient and just praying that everything would stay together and we would see the checkered and we did.  Today, we led the most important lap of the race, the last lap!”

“I want to thank my parents Bob and Barb, my amazing crew Bryan Salchak, Mike Edmunds, Dave Skinner, Bucky Stoltz, and Shelby Salchak, and my incredible sponsors – McNichols Co., Goodyear, and Cenweld Corp. – for making this win, this season, and the past seasons happen for us.”

Sponsors:  McNichols Co., headquartered in Tampa, FL, is the largest U.S. distributor of “Hole” products with service centers across North America. McNichols’product selection is the most diverse in the industry. McNichols stocks perforated products, both metal and plastic. A toll free number 800-237-3820 connects you to the McNichols Co. distributor in your area and the company’s extensive website, www.mcnichols.com, has online customer service and online ordering.  Goodyear Tire & Rubber is a Ruman Racing sponsor as well as the Series sponsor for Pro Spec Racer.  Cenweld Corp., a well-established manufacturer and distributor of truck bodies and equipment throughout Ohio, is also long-time Ruman Racing sponsor.

For quick news and updates during race weekends, please follow Ruman Racing and the Trans-Am Series on Twitter @rumanracing and @TransAmSeries.  Be sure to “Like” our official pages on Facebook: Ruman Racing, Amy Ruman (Official Fan Page), McNichols Company, and Trans-Am Racing.