Racing Fast on Friday

© Wes Duenkel

Rum Bum Racing had another successful day at New Jersey Motorsports Park as the team prepared for tomorrow’s B+ Foundation Heroes 200 under sweltering weather conditions. Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb topped the day’s final practice session with the No. 13 BMW M3 posting a fast lap time of 1:31.165 seconds.

Following Thursday’s promoter test day, the Rum Bum squad continued to improve the No. 13 machine and started off strong with the fourth quickest time in the first practice session. The team battled the heat all day at the New Jersey road course with abundant sunshine accompanied by temperatures approaching the 100 degree mark.

“The car was great, even though the conditions are very difficult,” said Longhi, who will qualify the car on Saturday. “It is incredibly warm. I ran that session without the cool suit, and it was fine while I was in the car. But then when you get out, it is just incredible with this heat. But it was good to run in these conditions because it’s likely exactly what we’ll have tomorrow in the race.”

With similar conditions expected for tomorrow’s qualifying session and 2.5-hour race, Plumb took over the controls of the Rum Bum Racing BMW M3 and returned to the track after Longhi posted the fastest lap time.

“Nick was very quick again in that session and I was just getting some laps in to confirm where we were with the set up and to also make sure my cool suit was working!” said Plumb.

“The car seems good and the drivers are happy, so it was a good day today,” offered crew chief Joe Varde. “We have to be smart with the heat. I think that it’s going to be a big factor tomorrow, but we’ve got a plan for the race so we'll see how everything plays out.”

Rum Bum Racing will return to the track tomorrow morning for a 15-minute qualifying session at 10:10 AM (ET) with the B+ Foundation Heroes 200 green flag slated for a 2:45 PM (ET) start.

SPEED will show the 2.5-hour race at 3:00 PM (ET) on July 30.

Quick Stats,Rum Bum Racing:
                2010-        3 wins
                2011-        3 poles, 2 wins, 4 total podiums