Ruman Wins Trans-Am race at BIR

By Dean Reller

(Brainerd, MN)  Amy Ruman continued her strong season as she was the driver to beat in the Trans-Am Series Ryan Companies Independence Day Classic at Brainerd International Raceway.  Doug Peterson led the field to the green and managed to hold off Ruman until she took the lead on lap 5 of the 40 lap (100 mile) race.  Ruman would stretch her lead, putting all of the TA3 cars and a good majority of the TA2 cars a lap down before the only caution of the race waved just past the half-way point of the race for a stalled car on the track.

“It was a hard fought race, it was hot, it was slick, it was dirty, dusty, everything they could possibly throw at us and we came out on top”, said Ruman as she tried to catch her breath following the race.  The biggest challenge for Ruman was to get by leader Peterson early on in the race.  “I was quicker than him in a couple of turns.  He gave me room and we were side-by-side and we had a great drag to the next turn.  And I just tried to take him deep.  That offline was real slippery, I tried it earlier on and I locked up, just like he did and I doubled passed him back and after that we just took off.” 

Here is an audio interview with Amy Ruman immediately after the race https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/ta-winner-amy-ruman-at-bir

Cliff Ebben would also work his way past Peterson but could only chase Ruman as the leaders ran close as they worked the lapped traffic late in the race. “For a while I think I had something”, said Ebben following the race.  “The last six or seven laps, I was used up and I couldn’t get a hold of anything.”  Ebben would finish 3.98 seconds behind Ruman as she scored her 5^th win in 6 races in the Trans-Am series this season.  Peterson would hold on to finish 3^rd.

In the TA2 class, Dillon Machavern took home his first career win.  Polesitter Tommy Archer made his Trans-Am return after successfully overcoming prostate cancer and he led from the start.  Lapped traffic would cause problems for the veteran as he tangled with another car and spun in turn 13.  This gave the lead to Gar Robinson.  Machavern and Archer would track down Robinson as the laps ticked off.  On the last lap, Machavern would get by Robinson in turn 6 to take the lead, bringing Archer along in the dash to the checkers.  “We tried to save some tires for the end and a yellow flag and that’s what we got”, said Machavern following the race.  Archer would try to track him down, but would finish .01 seconds behind, with Robinson also close, taking home 3^rd, just .04 seconds behind race winner Machavern.

 Here is an audio interview with the TA2 winner https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/dillon-machavern-ta2-winner-at

Here is a link to the full race results http://gotransam.cdn.racersites.com/assets/2015%20Brainerd%20REVISED%20PROVISIONAL%20Race%20Report%20by%20Class.pdf 
www.gotransam.com

Listen for a recap of the race and full interviews with Amy Ruman, Dillon Machavern and Cliff Ebben on Speed Talk on 1360 radio, Saturday 10-11am on www.KRWC1360.com