Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / Pit Stop: A look back at Amy Ruman's Championship Season

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Pit Stop: A look back at Amy Ruman's Championship Season · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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  We always have a blast chatting with our guests about all sorts of
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  different topics, but sometimes we go off the rails and dig deeper into
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  their automotive and motorsports pasts.
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  As a bonus, let's go behind the scenes with this pit stop minisode
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  for some extra content that didn't quite fit in the main episode.
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  Sit back, enjoy, and remember to like, subscribe, and
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  support Brake Fix on Patreon.
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  Hey everybody, Crew Chief Eric here.
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  In this Pit Stop episode, we're going to jump back to the 2016 season to
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  listen in on an interview that had been conducted by the International
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  Motor Racing Research Center after Amy Ruman's first championship win leading
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  into her second championship season.
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  The content is taken from the 50 Years of Trans Am Center conversation
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  that was done during the 2016 season, and it's introduced by Judy Stropas,
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  and the interview is conducted by Josh Ashby from the Center.
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  This might be a good time to jump again to current season, and Amy Ruhman as
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  the reigning champion, and now with a couple of races left, she is leading
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  in the points, and you say she's tied?
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  Oh, I saw one point difference, but a little bit of Amy's background.
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  She's the first female Trans Am champion.
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  Has worked her way up to the championship with her family centered team.
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  Was a podium finisher at the 2010 SCCS in GT one, and then turned to TransAm.
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  Has competed in all TransAm series for the past five years, finished second in
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  2012, fourth and 2013, and third in 2014.
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  Won her first TransAm race in 2011 and had her first poll in 2014.
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  In 2015.
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  Won the last three races of the year to finish the title.
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  This is Josh Ashby with the Motor Racing Research Center, interviewing
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  Amy Reumann, Trans Am Series driver, for our conversation, of
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  course, on the Trans Am Series.
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  Once again, welcome back to Watkins Glen, Amy.
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  I know I've said that a few times.
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  Great to be back.
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  Um, first off, what does the Trans Am Series mean to you?
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  Not only as a driver, but I'm assuming a fan since your father
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  did run it for a few years.
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  You know, it's obviously very important to us.
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  It's legendary in our minds and actually, I think, in the U. S.
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  So, personally, um, it means a lot to me, especially to get to the level we're
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  at today with winning the championship.
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  And with my dad being in the series for so long and us being a part of
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  it, it's great to continue on the tradition of running in the series.
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  I, quite frankly, think it's one of the most exciting
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  road racing series out there.
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  You've made some history being the first woman to win the championship.
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  How does it feel to be in the same record book as Gurney, Donahue,
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  Jones, Fulmer, Posey, and Revson?
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  Yeah, to be mentioned with those names clearly is absolutely an honor.
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  It's really legendary, the series overall, if you go back through and look
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  at the history of it, who's runnin it.
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  You know, you take a step back and you're like, wow, I really am in that group now.
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  You know, I don't really compare myself with people, but to do what we did and to
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  achieve what we achieved on our own, you know, as a single base privateer team, a
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  family run base team and to come where we were to fruition today is really an honor.
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  It's exciting.
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  You know, we're still excited about it and we're trying to come back
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  this year and defend the title again.
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  And, you know, being a first at anything is, you know, it's exciting.
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  It doesn't matter what it is, but we've definitely made a mark for ourselves.
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  Speaking to Trans Am's history over the Last 50 years, the cars have changed a
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  lot, from basically showroom stock cars with a cage and several modifications,
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  shall we say, thrown in there, to today's purpose built Trans Am car.
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  What do you think is one of the best changes that happened, and
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  where do you see the Trans Am series being in the next 15 to 20 years?
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  Well, clearly, uh, we're excited to have the kind of horsepower that we run.
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  With the big motors that we're running, 358s now, the power
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  we put down is incredible.
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  You know, I think that's exciting.
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  You know, I think it gives the transition of the series over the 50 years.
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  People can still relate to our cars.
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  We're trying to, with the TA2 class, bring in kind of that pony war type
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  tradition that they used to run.
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  Definitely still, there's a crossover into the mainstream.
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  American that they can still relate to us, but, you know, everybody
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  just likes to watch a fast race car.
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  So that's really where it's at for us.
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  It's all about power and, uh, getting out there and giving the fans a show.
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  And you definitely do that.
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  I know when you were up here earlier this year, we had some students coming
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  in for the Green Grand Prix and as soon as they saw your car, they're
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  like, Oh my God, just imagining.
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  And of course you turned it over and then they were like, Whoa.
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  Yeah.
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  If you look at the tracks that Trans Am has run over its entire history, you see
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  that's some of America's best racetracks.
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  What track, present or past, would you like to see on the race schedule?
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  Even if the track is shut down, would you love to run it?
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  I'm glad that Watkins Glen clearly is back on the, uh, This is my favorite racetrack.
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  I've said that throughout the years.
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  It's just one of a kind here.
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  And especially with the new improvements that they've made with the pavement.
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  It's going to be unbelievable fast.
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  And there's just so many different elements to this racetrack that
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  just are really fun to drive.
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  You know, we do have the opportunity to race at all the
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  best racetracks around the country.
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  It's a little more expensive for us to go out to the west coast now,
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  but I wouldn't mind seeing Laguna Seca back on the schedule, if we
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  did some sort of west coast swing.
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  And also, I'm a fan of the street course.
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  If we could get back on the schedule with the, we're gonna be running at
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  the Detroit Grand Prix this year, so that'll be exciting to be back on track.
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  I was fond of Three Rivers for street tracks.
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  Toronto, Long Beach, I would love to see some of those come back, but probably
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  just mainstream road course, you know, Watkins Glen, and I'm not saying that
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  just because I'm here, but uh, no, I've, I've said that throughout my career.
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  It's pretty much my favorite racetrack.
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  What do you think, not only as a driver, but an entrant as well, do you think
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  makes Trans Am such a lasting series?
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  You know, to make it 50 years when some series are like five
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  and done, if they're lucky.
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  Right.
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  I think, you know, the passion is with the competitors.
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  It's never left.
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  The fans have never left us.
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  They've always been supportive.
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  Like I said, I think our format works.
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  We're a hundred mile race.
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  It's exciting to watch for, you know, 70 minutes, 75 minutes worth of racing.
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  You have to get it done in that amount of time.
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  So it's intense while you're out there.
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  I think that model works with the fans and I think it works with us competitors.
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  Takes away the element of a pit stop or things that could go wrong with
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  driver changes and things like that.
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  It's just a different nature versus endurance racing.
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  But I think each series brings it's own different element and I think that's our
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  strong suit to be a 100 mile sprint race.
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  To get it done and make it really exciting for the fans to watch.
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  What's the closest finish you've ever had?
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  Oh boy.
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  I'd say, uh, wow, that's a lot of races for me to review.
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  One of the top finishes I'd have to say in my career thus far
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  was the Koda race last year.
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  It came down to Cliff Edmund and I on the last lap on a restart
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  close to the end of the race.
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  He had gotten by me and then we came back around and we were side by side.
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  I took him into one.
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  We were side by side.
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  Through one, down the hill, through the whole entire S's at Coda, then
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  up that little hill in the back, and I finally was able to pass him,
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  and that was the last lap and I won.
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  So probably, off the top of my head, that's a pretty good finish for us.
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  Obviously, including yours, what is your favorite car?
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  When you think of Trans Am, what car comes to your head?
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  Oh, the number 23 McNichols Corvette, of course.
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  I can't, I can't deny that.
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  Of course, yeah.
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  You know, uh, it's She served you well.
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  Yes, both of them, both of them.
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  We got our first win in my dad's original car.
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  At the end of 2011, that was our first win, we were going to park the
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  car, we had purchased a newer one.
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  So to get the win in that, our very first win in that car was exciting for us.
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  A fitting end to it, although we did get it back out of
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  retirement once or twice, but.
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  So I, I, you know, I got to go with my favorite car is of course my car.
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  All right.
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  Well, thank you again.
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  I appreciate this so much.
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  Sure.
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  Thanks for having us.
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  And hopefully you'll end with a win again this weekend.
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  Hopefully we're looking forward to it.
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  All right.
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