Ruhlman and Dallenbach bring home the #40 Preformed Line Products Daytona Prototype for Derhaag Motorsports at Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, NY (Aug. 13, 2006)– The No. 40 Preformed Line Products Derhaag Motorsports Pontiac Riley, running as high as eighth overall, took the checkered flag in sixteenth in Friday evening's 200-mile Grand American Rolex Cup race at Watkins Glen International. Veteran race car driver Paul Dallenbach joined long-time team driver Randy Ruhlman for some very promising days of racing in the Daytona Prototypes at The Royal Crown 200 at The Glen. The 200-mile, two-hour race showcased the twenty-six car, Daytona Prototype-only, field on the 2.45-mile, short course track at Watkins Glen International, as part of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup weekend. "Paul and Randy worked flawlessly together," said team owner Jim Derhaag. "They were basically interchangeable as drivers with times and feedback, and that made things really easy. The team did a great job with the car prep and pit stops, and practice and qualifying went well. So did the first half of the race, but something was definitely not right with the car after the pit stop--we just couldn't get the lap times after that. Both guys did a great job of driving and bringing it home, especially when the sun set and the visibility from our car became really bad. Even though our finishing position wasn't what we had hoped for, I'd have to say from an overall perspective, it was one of our most productive Daytona Prototype weekends." Competition for the two-hour race, Round Twelve of the Grand American Rolex Cup race, the Royal Crown 200 At The Glen, started at dusk (6:30 p.m.) on Friday evening, August 11th, as part of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup weekend at Watkins Glen. Television coverage on SPEED of the full race began same-day, tape-delayed at 9 p.m. ET. The Grand American Rolex Series presented by Royal Crown heads next to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California on August 26th, and then straight on to the Salt Lake City finale of the Rolex Cup Series, the Discount Tire Sunchaser, a nine-hour race at Miller Motorsports Park on Saturday, September 2nd. Both races will be aired on SPEED with the Infineon race broadcast next day tape-delayed on Sunday, August 27th at 3 p.m. ET, and the nine-hour final race will be broadcast LIVE on Saturday, September 2nd at 2 p.m. ET. Paul Dallenbach is a veteran race car driver with experience in Formula cars, short track and ASA, rally and hill climbs, Trans-Am and Daytona Prototypes. Paul is a winner and record holder on the famous Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb, and has a second place finish at the Daytona 24 Hour race. He was the Rookie of the Year in Formula Atlantics and VW Cup, and has numerous rally and hill climb records. He drove in Daytona Prototypes this year at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in the No. 74 car with his brother, Wally Dallenbach, and Darin Brassfield, both long time Trans-Am/IMSA and NASCAR drivers. Paul Dallenbach currently works extensively as a precision driver and has a myriad of commercial driving credits to his name. Randy Ruhlman just came off a successful 2005 season driving for Derhaag Motorsports in the Trans-Am Series with wins at both the Cleveland Grand Prix and the Long Beach Grand Prix. Ruhlman was named the 2005 BBS "Most Improved Driver of the Year" and was runner-up for the 2005 Trans-Am Drivers' Championship. Ruhlman is fourth overall in Trans-Am history in Top Ten finishes. Ruhlman, from Greensboro, NC, has been a professional race car driver since 1990 and has extensive racing experience, predominantly in road racing in the Trans-Am Series, as well as in IMSA, ASA and the NASCAR short track series. Derhaag Motorsports Pontiac Riley carries primary sponsorship from Preformed Line Products with additional sponsorship logos of Coyote Closures®, Park Place Ltd, KeyBank and McDonald Financial Group. Preformed Line Products (PLP) is an international manufacturer and supplier of hardware and support systems for the communications and energy industries. Products include the COYOTE® Closure and GUY-GRIP® Dead-End used in the telecommunications, cable and energy industries. Manufacturing facilities are located worldwide in the USA, Canada, China, Brazil, Mexico, England, Spain, South Africa, Australia and Thailand. Cleveland-based KeyCorp is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $92 billion. Key companies provide investment management, retail and commercial banking, consumer finance, and investment banking products and services to individuals and companies throughout the United States and, for certain businesses, internationally. For further information about the drivers, sponsor, team, please visit the following links: Derhaag Motorsports http://www.derhaag.com/ Paul Dallenbach http://www.pauldallenbach.com/ Preformed Line Products http://www.preformed.com/ |
