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Cristi Brumm Ruhlman
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ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS SLOW RUHLMAN AT LONG BEACH

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 13, 2003) -- The Trans-Am race at the Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix today 
saw top Trans-Am driver Randy Ruhlman start from the back of the grid with great promise of a front 
running day.  Unfortunately for the Derhaag Motorsports driver, the day was cut short by an electrical 
malfunction that prematurely ended the day for the Preformed Line Products/Coyote Closure Chevrolet 
Corvette.

"The car was beginning to come in nicely, but it didn't really have the punch I had hoped for," said 
Ruhlman.  "When Paul Gentilozzi and I started at the back, I thought we could both get to the front.  
Paul got away pretty fast and I got caught behind a couple of spun cars, so I lost a couple of seconds 
to him there."

"Things were good, but not great with the car as the race progressed. I was able to get up to about 
13th and was turning good times, but not quite enough to get up any further right away.  We planned 
to have a better car for the end of the race, so I wasn't really worried."

"The car stopped really well, and the handling was good, so I was able to pick off the twelfth and 
eleventh place guys, but the power seemed a bit off.  As soon as I got by Max Lagod in eleventh, I 
just couldn't get away. I could see Greg Pickett ahead in my sights, but I started to have trouble passing 
even lapped cars." [Pickett made it to fifth before running out of fuel just yards from the checkered flag.]

"The tach started to go crazy and I was losing power quickly," continued Ruhlman.  "We started turning 
off accessory power, but it didn't help. Something seems to have shorted out the electrical system.  We 
think it was a possibly a bad battery, where the plates break and short themselves out, but we will have 
to see what went wrong back at the shop.  The car just died out on track, and there was no way to get 
back to the pits and get it changed.  It was really disappointing to see the potential of another top five 
just fade, especially while I was sitting in the car on the side of the track."

"We are going to do some serious testing in the next few weeks before Mosport.  I have always loved 
that track, it is fast and a real driver's track.  The team wants to do everything possible to make sure that 
this is the end of the "new car blues".