SCC: Trois-Rivieres: Rum Bum Racing race report

Rum Bum Racing Wins in Trois Rivieres
Friday the 13th far from unlucky for No. 13 Rum Bum BMW M3

Trois Rivieres, QUE-13 August 2010- There was no better demonstration of the idea that "Joy is Efficient" than the dominating run at the front of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge event in Trois Rivieres as Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi shared the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing BMW M3 to take the teams second race win of the season on Friday night.

The winning effort combined the M3's well-know pace with the fuel economy needed to make it to the finish as several competitors faltered, running out of fuel in the closing moments of the race.

Longi qualified the car close to the pole-winning time, and was set to move up at the start. But an early full-course caution kicked in a new strategy as Rum Bum Racing crew chief Joe Varde made the call to bring Longhi in and turn the machine over to Plumb.

"Because of the situation we are in, we had a lot of flexibility in terms of when to do the driver change because I'm not in the points so Joe (Varde) made the most of that with his call to do the driver change," said Longhi, who seamlessly swapped between French in English during the post-event media interviews with Quebec media and track announcers. "It was a great call. I was really nervous, but that's why they don't have me do the fuel numbers! The team executed perfectly on the strategy."

And it wasn't just strategy and economy that got the job done. After making one subsequent pit stop for a slash of fuel, Plumb made the most of the M3's speed to charge forward from deep in the pack to take the lead on lap 34 as the final 45 laps clicked off under green flag conditions.

One might think that there would be a shortage of fingernails from nervousness after the team made the bold call, but all was calm on the Rum Bum pit box as the sums all added up perfectly with Plumbs pace to bring the team a second victory in just its first season of GRAND-AM competition.

"This was the first time for Luis Bacardi and his wife Jennifer to see a race here at Trois Rivieres and I'm so happy we were able to get another win with them here with us today--you always want to do well for the boss!" said Plumb. "Joe Varde had a perfect strategy and Nick (Longhi) had us up front at the start, so I just had to manage the car to make sure I had enough at the finish. We set out a number of goals for this first season of Rum Bum Racing and I'm happy to say that we've had even more success than we originally anticipated. This is a great win to keep building on and moving forward with this program. Racing at night was a blast, and I hope it looked as good to the fans as I think it did."

Bringing added historical significance to the accomplishment was the fact that the Grand Prix du Trois Rivieres had never previously staged a night race in 41 years as Rum Bum Racing notched another new accomplishment north of the border as the first-ever winners of the two-hour night sprint.

The team will look to bookend the 2010 GRAND-AM season with another win at the season-finale event at Miller Motorsports Park on September 11th as the organization continues to grow momentum as an established threat for podiums and victories.

\@%-source: rum bum racing