Paul Fix Wins Trans Am race at BIR

By Dean Reller

Paul Fix was more than excited as he climbed from his car following the Ryan Companies Independence Day Classic for the Trans Am Series at Brainerd International Raceway.

Fix looked like as though he was destined for a solid second place finish, but some late race events shuffled things in his favor allowing him to take the Trans Am TA1 win.  Pole sitter Cliff Ebben started at the front of the field for the third straight race and he appeared poised to finally take his first win of the season.  Ebben took the lead from the start, but the race would be slowed on lap two, when TA4 driver Trevor Janke hit the wall in turn one.  After a few caution laps, the red flag was displayed for several minutes as track crews made repairs to the wall.

When the green waved again, it was Ebben still in command as David Pintaric held second while Fix now moved to third.  Fix did not have a good qualifying run and was originally scheduled to start last after Saturday’s Fast Five qualifying.  He was the lone driver to make a run during Second Chance qualifying and turned in the fastest time of the day, but was forced to start sixth due to his second round attempt.

Fix quickly moved to second behind Ebben and the front pair slowly began to pull away from the others.

Defending race winner Amy Ruman had power steering problems and was forced to pit for lengthy repairs which put her 4 laps down and an eventual 9^th place finish.

Meanwhile, Ebben and Fix showed the way at the head of the field.  Fix would use lapped traffic to gain ground, only to see the margin grow again when the speedy front pair got into clean air.  With a little more than a lap remaining, smoke began to pour from the right rear of Ebben’s car as he clung to the lead.  On the final lap, Fix made his move in turn four as he moved past to take the lead and hang on for the win.

“I caught a wisp of smoke about a lap before that,” said Ebben.  “It kept getting worse and worse, but with one lap to go, I’m not going to pull in.  I just kept going.”

https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/cliff-ebben-takes-2nd-in-trans

Fixx was elated as he received congratulations from his crew and wife Lauren following the race.  “We had a fast car,” said Fix.  “We waited and waited and waited, it’s a waiting game sometimes.  Cliff had a fast car and he knows this track like the back of his hand.  I just capitalized on his mistakes and kept closing in and finally took it with one lap to go.”

https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/paul-fix-wins-trans-am-at

TA1 Results Ryan Companies 100

1.     Paul Fix

2.     Cliff Ebben

3.     David Pintaric

4.     Jim McAleese

5.       Simon Gregg

6.       Kerry Hitt

7.        Claudio Burtin

8.      Tim Rubright

9.      Amy Ruman

           10.   Mickey Wright

Here is an audio recap of the entire weekend from Jason and Dean from Speed Talk on 1360 https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/speed-talk-7-9-16-trans-am-recap

Trans Am comes to Brainerd early

The Trans Am series will be racing Sunday July 5th in the Ryan Companies Independence Day Classic at Brainerd International Raceway.  This race has traditionally been held over Labor day weekend.

To preview this event, here is an interview we did with Gary Curtis, Director of the Performance driving school at BIR.


 https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/speed-talk-6-27-15-gary-curtis-bir

This series raced at BIR from 1969 to 1989 but then it just went away.  It was revived and brought back to BIR in 2010 and then acquired by Minnesota veteran driver Jim Derhaag who raced his 151st and final Trans Am event here in 2010.  That first race back saw only 7 cars on track and MN native Tony Ave won by 65 seconds, almost a full lap over 2nd place.

Things have changed for the better over the past 5 years, the race set for this weekend has 41 entries and the Trans Am series now has 3 different divisions all racing together.  12 drivers are entered in the top TA division sporting Corvette bodies and 800 horsepower.

 #23 Amy Ruman from Kent (OH) is the point leader and has won 4 of the 5 races so far in 2015.  She has done well at BIR, she won here in 2012 and finished 2nd last year.  Here is an audio interview we did with Amy Ruman in 2014 http://deanreller.podomatic.com/entry/2014-08-23T10_30_13-07_00

 #87 Doug Peterson from Bonita Springs (FL) is a veteran driver who has won the previous two years here at BIR.

 #59 Simon Gregg from Ponte Verde (FL) is the 2012 Trans Am series Champion, but he has not won at BIR.


 #4 Paul Fix from Williamsville (NY) is 2nd in points and he is the only driver other than Ruman to win a race this year.

 #07 Jed Copham is our local Brainerd racer, plus he owns the track.  He does have a shot, nobody has more experience at this track, in 2013 he finished 5th.

 #36 Cliff Ebben from Appleton (WI) has been so close to winning here at BIR, but has come up just short.  He has had some bad luck too, including when he destroyed a car here back in 2011.


Qualifying will be Saturday July 4th at 2:20pm with the 40 lap 100 mile race on Sunday July 5th at 1:50pm, the race usually takes between 60 and 90 minutes to complete.  If the past races are any indication you can expect one or two cautions during the race.

The Brainerd International Raceway competition road course is 13 turns and 2.5 miles, I recommend trying more than one location to watch the action.  You can bring a chair or stand on the bridge, you can see the tightest and slowest corner on the track just past the pit lane and the drivers will race right underneath you.  I also recommend going into the infield and checking out the action on some of the high speed locations.  Bleachers are set up in numerous locations.  The race paddock and pit lane is also open for fans, it is a very active place during pre race and post race festivities.

The track was repaved two years ago, this Spring curbing was put in and the track work is complete.

Single day tickets are only $25 and kids 12 and under are free.  Get more information at www.brainerdraceway.com or www.gotransam.com

Modern Trans Am history at BIR:
2010    Tony Ave  (7 cars)
2011    Tony Ave  (12 cars)
            Tony Ave (12 cars)
2012    Tony Ave  (17 cars)
            Amy Ruman (17 cars)
2013    Doug Peterson (23 cars)
2014    Doug Peteson  (29 cars)
2015   ?   (41 cars entered)

For a full recap of the Trans Am action at BIR including interviews with the winners listen to Speed Talk on 1360 Saturday morning 10-11am on KRWC1360.com or search #BIR on Twitter.

This race will be broadcast on a tape delay on CBS Sports Network at a later date.

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

Ave and Ruman win at BIR

Tony Ave (above) won his fourth straight Trans-Am race Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway with a dominating performance, won his 13th straight pole award, lead all forty laps and won by an impressive 29 seconds.

Trans-Am returns to BIR

 The Trans-Am series returns to the 13 turn 2.5 mile competition road course at Brainerd International Raceway with races on both Saturday and Sunday September 1st and 2nd.  Jason and Dean from Speedtalk on 1360 radio will be broadcasting LIVE at the track and interviewing drivers from 10-11am, listen on KRWC 1360am radio http://www.krwc1360.com/