Munroe Falls, Ohio – Ruman’s day ended too soon at Lime Rock Park, as a mechanical problem forced an early retirement from the race.

The No. 23 McNichols Co. Corvette was fast in the practice sessions, with Ruman posting times in the top-3 on Friday. Then at the end of the second practice session, a mechanical issue forced an engine change. Unfortunately, there was too little time to complete the change before the qualifying session, thus Ruman started at the back of the Trans Am field for Saturday’s race, 11th on the grid.

Ruman charged hard from the first lap of the 100 mile race and quickly moved up to 6th position in the first six laps. Ruman continued to make progress and was running with the 2nd – 6th place pack for a long portion of the race. Unfortunately, with just 16 laps to go, the No. 23 had a mechanical problem that forced Ruman to pull off and park the car. Officially she recorded an 11th place finish in the TA class, and 27th in the combined multi-class results.

Following the Lime Rock race results, Peterson continues to hold the lead in the Trans Am Championship with 257 points, Gregg moved up into second place with 218, and Ruman dropped to third place with 209.

“Obviously the team and I are extremely disappointed. We were strong and fast when we were out on the track, but some serious mechanical gremlins squashed our hopes at this race,” said a frustrated Ruman.  “I love racing here at Lime Rock and the fans are just so amazing. I was particularly bummed that our race ended so early when the fans had given me so much support. This also makes the short turn-around time between now and next weekend’s race at VIR extremely challenging for the team – but, we’re not giving up.”