Munroe Falls, OH - The SCCA Runoffs are always challenging
for every competitor that attends. The competition is fierce
and both car and driver need to be at the top of their game
at all times. Amy Ruman battled a few car problems during
the qualifying runs this past week, and came down with a sinus
infection on Thursday, which she battled throughout the rest
of the weekend. She secured a starting position of 6th for
the McNichols/Cenweld Corvette in the 22 car field. But the
race did not go according to Ruman's plan as a small brush
between competitors led to bigger complications.
At the start of the race, Ruman's side exhaust pipe got clipped.
By the time she reached the front straight on lap one, Ruman
heard part of the header break off causing the exhaust to
pour into the cockpit of the car and the sound level became
very, very loud.
"It was terrible. When that header broke it was like
a heat wave of exhaust fumes, I could barely breathe. There
was no air movement in the cockpit of the car so I flipped
on the defrost blowers to try to get some air moving around.
When the header broke apart the engine immediately lost significant
horsepower, so I would often be fast in the corners, but at
loss for power in the straightaways. At first it wasn't too
bad and I tried to concentrate on passing Mohrhauser. We eventually
got tangled up and dropped back a position each. Toward the
end of the race it was all I could do to drive around, I was
getting asphyxiated. I was just glad I was able to maintain
9th and finish the race. After the checkered, I pulled into
the pits and couldn't even get myself out of the car. Medical
gave me oxygen and pumped an IV into me because I was so sick
from those fumes," exclaimed Ruman.
"It was such an unfortunate circumstance, because the
car was the best it had been all week and I was hooked up
right away. I really think if I had had my normal horsepower-and
had my wits about me-I could have moved up in the pack. I
really feel bad for my team; we worked hard for a podium finish!
At least we still finished in the top ten. I want to thank
my sponsors McNichols Co., Cenweld Corp. and Goodyear for
this great 2004 season, I am already looking forward to next
year!"
Television coverage of the entire 2004 SCCA Kohler Runoffs
will be aired on SPEED Channel. All races will be tape delayed
with coverage starting November 20. The GT-1 race is scheduled
to air Saturday, December 11 at 3:00pm EDT. For more schedule
information, visit www.speedtv.com or www.scca.com
