Sears Point: Randy Ruhlman race notes

Randy Ruhlman Finishes Third at Sunday's Trans-Am 100 at Infineon Raceway

Sonoma, Calif. (June 27, 2004) Top Trans-Am driver Randy Ruhlman finished third today at the 51 lap, 100-mile race Motorock Trans-Am at Infineon Raceway, sharing the podium with former Trans-Am Champions Boris Said and Tommy Kendall. Ruhlman was the top Chevrolet in his #49 blue and white Preformed Line Products/Coyote Closure Chevrolet Corvette. All three manufacturers were represented on the podium, as Said took top honors in a Ford Mustang and Kendall was second in a Jaguar.

"The track was in surprisingly good shape after the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race, so that pretty nice. Our plan here was to not using up our tires too quickly. We had been fast all weekend, so I knew what we had, and we wanted to pace ourselves. I tried to just keep contact with the front guys at first, but after the first restart I knew that we would be fine for the rest of race," commented Ruhlman. "I thought I might be able to catch Tommy [Kendall] for second, but every time I would close up, he would get away. Boris and Tommy both had strong cars, but so did we. I wanted to prove myself again in Trans-Am, especially after last year's race here. I think that being on the podium with these guys today was a good way to do that."

Ruhlman was fast all weekend, running in the top five in all sessions at the 1.968-mile short course at Infineon Raceway of Round Three of the Motorock Trans-Am Series. Ruhlman's third place finish is his first Trans-Am podium of the year and his 139th career start in the Series. He is currently eighth in Driver's Championship points.

Ruhlman began his racing career at Infineon Raceway, not only going to SCCA Driver's School, but scoring track records in his first years in amateur Showroom Stock Corvette racing. Randy Ruhlman finished sixth overall in the Driver's Championship in 2003 in a Derhaag Motorsports Corvette and was seventh overall in 2002 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". Randy Ruhlman is sixth overall in Top Ten finishes in Trans-Am history.

Television for the Trans-Am race will be on HD Net with delayed coverage on Spike TV's show "Dangerous Curves" on July 4th. The Trans-Am Series immediately travels on to the Cleveland Grand Prix with Champ Car at Burke Airport course on Friday, July 3rd, then straight to Toronto on July 10th.