Trans-Am

Long Beach: Randy Ruhlman preview

RUHLMAN FINISHES TESTING, READY FOR THE 2005 LONG BEACH GRAND PRIX TRANS-AM WITH NEW LOOK FOR ...

Published: Apr 8, 2005, 5:55 PM

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RUHLMAN FINISHES TESTING, READY FOR THE 2005 LONG BEACH GRAND PRIX TRANS-AM WITH NEW LOOK FOR #49 CORVETTE

Phoenix, AZ (April 8, 2005) -- Testing for the 2005 Trans-Am Series Championship concluded Tuesday for the Derhaag Motorsports team with driver Randy Ruhlman at the helm of his Corvette C6 racecar. The two days of testing at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, AZ saw several of the top teams refining their car setup in anticipation of this weekend's Long Beach Grand Prix. The Long Beach Grand Prix Trans-Am race will be run on Sunday April 10th following the Champ Car race.

Randy Ruhlman will be leading the charge for the 2005 Trans-Am Championship with a new look for his Preformed Line Products Chevrolet Corvette. Ruhlman will be returning to the Series after finishing third in 2004 in the closest Championship battle ever in the 40-year history of the Trans-Am Series.

The familiar blue and white Corvette Ruhlman drives for the Derhaag Motorsports team will have some new additions to its Preformed Line Products-PLP and COYOTE® Closure logos. Ruhlman's car has always been one of the most photographed cars in the paddock and will now have the added signage for Superior® Modular Products, VORTX^Á 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.

Ruhlman took third in the 2004 Trans-Am Series Drivers Championship after a hotly contested battle for the Championship. The 2004 season saw past Champions Paul Gentilozzi, Tommy Kendall, and Ruhlman fight it out for the Driver's Championship in the closest points battle ever in Trans-Am history. Ruhlman was consistently fast in his #49 Preformed Line Products/ COYOTE® Closure Corvette this year, 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 fifth overall in Top Ten finishes in Trans-Am history. He finished sixth overall in 2003 in the Driver's 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 children's charities. His charitable contributions include an increasingly active role in supporting the Lance Armstrong Foundation and with Children's charities throughout the country, especially in Cleveland with the Rainbow Babies and Children's 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.

Founded in 1947, Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ: PLPC) 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.

-rr-

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