Rum Bum Racing Looks to Retake Championship Lead at Barber

Rum Bum Racing Looks to Retake Championship Lead at Barber

TV Info: SPEED, April 16, 2:00 PM ET
Rum Bum Racing Championship Spotlight: GS Team Championship: P2, 61 points (-4)
Barber Rewind-2010: Finish P 19

4 April 2011 (Birmingham, Ala.) – With two dominant performances in the first two rounds of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship, Rum Bum Racing has picked up right where the team left off at the end of last season. Co-drivers Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi will look to capitalize on this momentum as the team gears up for round three of the 2011 championship and the Barber 200 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama this Saturday (broadcast-SPEED, April 16 2:00 PM).

After kicking off the season with an outstanding race weekend that saw the team score both the pole and the victory in the season opening race at Daytona International Speedway, the Rum Bum squad once again set the bar high in round two. It was almost no surprise when Nick Longhi once again put the No. 13 BMW M3 on the Kia 200 pole for the second race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, marking the team’s third consecutive pole winning performance.

While Rum Bum Racing had hoped to make a return trip to victory lane at the Rum Bum Racing home track, the race didn’t play out exactly to plan as the No.13 crossed the finish line with a respectable fifth place finish after fighting through the over 60-car combined class field. Despite yet another top-five result, the intense championship challenge of the series was clear as the result saw the team fall just out of the championship lead, a mere four points out of the top spot. But with a deeply talented crew, outstanding car prep, and top talents behind the wheel, Rum Bum Racing is looking to keep the momentum going and the focus is clear as the team heads to the picturesque settings of Barber Motorsports Park.

“Our overall objective is to score as many points as possible in every single race and to keep our focus on the championship,” said Plumb. “We want to go out and win every race, but we know that with the competition as intense as it is, we have to focus on just getting everything out of each weekend that we can if we aren’t on top. It’s going to be a very competitive year and earning points is key. We know that Joe (Varde) is going to make the right calls on the pit box and the Rum Bum guys keep delivering great pit stops, so hopefully we can just keep building on what we’ve started with a good run this weekend.”

Last year’s race at the natural road course was a disappointing one for Plumb and co-driver Gian Bacardi as the duo faced slippery track conditions and were forced to settle for a 19th place result. Rum Bum Racing hopes to turn their Barber luck around as they continue to build on the momentum they’ve already gained this year after closing 2010 on a hot streak.

“The No. 13 BMW M3 has been quick all season and hopefully we can continue to perform like that this weekend at Barber,” said Longhi, who has a top-ten finish at Barber Motorsports Park in Rolex Sports Car Series competition to his credit. “We’ve been good in qualifying, and we were strong at Homestead even though we didn’t come out of there with the podium that we were aiming for. It just shows how tight this championship fight is going to be, and we’ve just got our heads down to get as much as we can at Barber.”

On-track action opens with a promoter test day on Wednesday, April 6 followed by official practice and qualifying on Thursday. The Continental Tire Challenge race is set to take the green flag on Saturday, April 9 at 11:30 AM prior to the Rolex Series Sports Car event. The race will air on April 16 at 2:00 PM (ET) on SPEED.

-ends-

Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
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http://www.sundaymanagement.com
317.908.2975 (m)


Based in Indianapolis, Sunday Group Management is a leading motorsports management and communications consulting firm.

Sunday Group Management works with clients in a variety of motorsports categories, including NASCAR Sprint Cup driver AJ Allmendinger, Riley Technologies, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series organization Michael Shank Racing, Continental Tire, and several teams and drivers in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition.

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