Ruhlman, the driver of the Preformed Line Products/COYOTE^® Closure Corvette, jumped to the second position at the checkered flag, only to see his time eclipsed on the final lap by the Jaguar of Tommy Drissi, then the Jag of 2004 Trans-Am Champion Paul Gentilozzi. Ruhlman will be starting second on the grid in the inverted start with the fourth fastest qualifying time of 1:23.412.

The race is scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, April 10 at 3:15PM following the Champ Car race. Live timing and scoring of race will be broadcast on the Trans-Am website. The television coverage will be on Sunday April 17th at 1:30PM ET on SPEED Channel.

Randy Ruhlman is a top contender for the 2005 Trans-Am Championship with his Preformed Line Products Chevrolet Corvette. Ruhlman is returning to the Series after finishing third in 2004 in the closest Driver's Championship battle ever in the 40-year history of the Trans-Am Series.

The familiar blue and white Corvette Ruhlman drives for the Derhaag Motorsports team has some new additions to its Preformed Line Products-PLP and COYOTE^® Closure logos. Ruhlman’s car is always one of the most photographed cars in the paddock and will now have the added signage for Superior^® Modular Products, VORTX™ Vibration Damper and GUY-GRIP^® Dead-ends.

Ruhlman took third in the 2004 Trans-Am Series Driver's Championship after a hotly contested battle for the Championship. The 2004 season saw past Champions Paul Gentilozzi, Tommy Kendall, and Ruhlman fight it out in the closest points battle ever in Trans-Am history for the Driver’s Championship. Ruhlman was consistently fast in his #49 Preformed Line Products/ COYOTE^® Closure Corvette last year, having scored seven straight, top five finishes, including three podiums: a second at Road America, another second at Toronto, and a third at Infineon. Additionally, Ruhlman was the pole sitter for the Road America race.

Randy Ruhlman is fifth overall in Top Ten finishes in Trans-Am history. He finished sixth overall in 2003 in the Driver’s Championship in a Derhaag Motorsports Corvette. Ruhlman was seventh overall in 2002 while driving for Tom Gloy Racing, with a second (and a 3rd in 2003) at Trois Rivieres and third at Miami. Ruhlman was awarded the 2002 BBS Wheels "Most Improved Driver of the Year".

Ruhlman, a top driver in the Trans-Am Series in the Preformed Line Products/COYOTE^® Closure Corvette, has also made a strong commitment to local and national children’s charities. Ruhlman has maintained an increasingly active role in supporting the Lance Armstrong Foundation along with children’s charities throughout the country, especially in Cleveland with the Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and their Outreach Programs.

Ruhlman's Chevrolet Corvette is fielded by the Minneapolis-based Derhaag Motorsports, led by former Trans-Am driver Jim Derhaag. Derhaag himself made 150 starts as a driver in the Trans-Am Series before his successful move to full time ownership in 1998.

Superior^® Modular Products is a subsidiary of Preformed Line Products, specializing in high-speed data communications products. The VORTX™ Vibration Damper is a new product from PLP designed to limit the effects of wind-induced vibration on electric transmission lines. The GUY-GRIP® Dead-end is a helically formed wire product used primarily by electric power utilities and communications companies to terminate wire strand.

Founded in 1947, Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ: PLPC) is an international designer and manufacturer of products and systems employed in the construction and maintenance of overhead and underground networks for energy, communications and broadband network companies.

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the Company operates three domestic manufacturing centers, located in Rogers, Arkansas, Albemarle, North Carolina and Asheville, North Carolina. Preformed serves worldwide markets through international operations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain and Thailand.