Peterson wins Trans-Am again at BIR

Doug Peterson from Bonita Springs (FL) won the 100 mile Trans-Am series race at Brainerd International Raceway for the second consecutive year, "it was awesome," said Peterson "we were definitely working out there."

Peterson started on the pole because rain washed out qualifying and the field was set via point standings.  Peterson held that advantage the entire race but it was not a easy win as lapped traffic racing with each other caused some uneasy moments, "I wanted to let them race," said Peterson "we are so much faster then them in the straight away but in the turns we are pretty darn close."

With his 5th win of the season in 8 races Peterson extended his point lead to 39 points with only 3 more events on the schedule.

Peterson was impressed with Brainerd International Raceway "Its a great track, it has a lot of heritage, slow speed and high speed and you really have to drive this thing" said Peterson.

Amy Ruman from Kent (OH) finished second 7.3 seconds behind Peterson and had a great battle back and forth with Cliff Ebben for the second position.  "He seemed to be faster in the corners, we were having a little issue with grip," said Ruman "so I set him up out of (corner) 13 and got a good run down the straight away and passed him back."

Ruman moved back into the second position in the point standings with her runner up finish, "with all our bad luck lately, I'll take the second" said Ruman. 

Cliff Ebben finished third only 1 second behind Ruman.  Simon Gregg finished 4th and he was 36 seconds behind Peterson at the finish line in this caution free race.

The 40 lap race took only 1 hour and 2 minutes to complete the 100 miles with and average speed of 96.277 mph.

Ron Keith (middle) from Shawnee (KS) won the TA2 division finishing just ahead of a hard charging Tommy Kendall (right) for the win, Adam Andretti (left) made it to the podium with a third place finish.

Jerry Greene from Minnetonka (MN) won the TA3 division.   29 cars competed in this event and that is the largest number of cars since Trans-Am returned to BIR in 2010 and there was a noticeably larger crowd of spectators for this event than previous years.

For full results to go www.gotransam.com

Speed Talk on 1360 Radio will broadcast interviews with Trans-Am drivers Doug Peterson and Amy Ruman and also post race interviews with Tommy Kendall and Ron Keith on Saturday September 6th between 10-11am while we are on-location at the Classics by the Lake car show in Buffalo.

Listen on 1360 am radio, on the "Tune-In" app or at www.krwc1360.com

Peterson wins Trans Am at BIR

                                  

Doug Peterson (photo above) from Bonita Springs (FL) lead the entire 40 laps to win on the newly paved 1.5 mile road course at Brainerd International Raceway, its his fifth win of the season in the Trans Am series.

   

Peterson won qualifying and set a new track record in the process with a lap of 126.851, over 103 mph average speed.    22 cars took the green flag in the race, the largest field of cars since Trans Am returned to BIR in 2010.  Peterson held the lead in the race and never looked back.  

"We've had a spectacular weekend," said Peterson "the new track is amazing, much faster than last year."  It was not an easy run for the win, Peterson had to wait out a long 11 lap double caution period and then have an 8 lap shootout to the checkered flag.  He was pressured by four time BIR winner Tony Ave, 2012 winner Amy Ruman and defending champion Simon Gregg, the top four drivers were just 1.356 seconds apart at the finish line.

Amy Ruman (bottom photo) dropped back to 6th position on the first lap, "I spun in turn four, I got in those pebbles just a little bit," said Ruman.  She then had a furious drive through the field to catch the leaders, "we needed about three more laps," she said "I was trying to make some moves at the end but Tony (Ave) drives a really wide car."  Ruman posted the fastest lap of the race at 1:28.974 averaging 101.153 mph.   

 BIR track owner Jed Copham (on left below) raced the Derhaag Motorsports #40 car and finished 5th.  "That is a hell of a car, a wild ride," said Copham "I stayed on the lead lap and finished the race, those were my goals so I am happy."

Cameron Lawrence was the winner in the TA2 division, its his fifth win of 2013.  David Seuss was the winner in the TA3 division.  Get full results at www.gotransam.com

Trans Am Results: September 1, 2013 Brainerd International Raceway
1-Doug Peterson
2-Tony Ave
3-Amy Ruman
4-Simon Gregg
5-Jed Copham

Listen for full interviews with Doug Peterson, Amy Ruman and Jed Copham on Speed Talk on 1360 radio, Here is the audio from KRWC https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/bir-trans-am-recap-2013