Orlando, Fla. (23 July 2014) – Racing at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway is always special, but for Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing, nothing would be more special than kissing the Speedways’ famous bricks with a victory in Friday’s Brickyard Sports Car Challenge (fans can watch live atwww.imsa.com).
Since debuting in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge in 2010, Rum Bum Racing has amassed 25 podium results – including 15 wins – on 13 different circuits. But one place the team has yet to experience the sweet spray of champagne is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Drivers Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb would love nothing more than to change that fact as the duo are set to once again share the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche in Friday’s Brickyard Grand Prix.
Rum Bum Racing currently sits second in the championship standings just six points out of the lead. And with just five more races on the 2014 schedule, positive performances through the rest of the season will be key to winning the organization’s third consecutive IMSA championship title.
When the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time in 2012, Rum Bum Racing finished a disappointing 12th after being hit hard by another competitor late in the race. Last year, the group rallied to a fifth place finish after an ill-timed caution period followed a pit stop and caught the team out. Despite the setback, the team fought back to a fifth place finish.
While both Longhi and Plumb have experience on the Indianapolis road course, this year’s race sees the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge field take on a slightly reconfigured circuit as all the teams will be looking to learn the new course and quickly get up to speed.
“The team did a great job to turn the car around from Mosport after we got tangled up in that last lap crash,” said Plumb. “We’ve had mixed luck here at the Speedway so hopefully we can stay out of trouble and bring home some more points. It’s a new track in a way with the revised layout, so Nick and I are eager to get out there and see what we can learn in practice for the race.”
Over the previous seven races this year, Rum Bum Racing has remained a championship contender with six top-10 results to their credit which included a win at Lime Rock Park and a third place podium finish at Watkins Glen. Plumb and Longhi have established themselves as leading players in the Championship, with the Rum Bum squad also having proved to be one that can never be counted out.
As the team looks for valuable points toward the championship, a win at Indy would position the squad well for the final run of four races.
Rum Bum Racing will take part in two practice sessions on Thursday ahead of qualifying which takes place at 3:30 PM ET. The Brickyard Sports Car Challenge will go green at 2:35 PM ET on Friday and will be streamed LIVE on IMSA.com.
Follow @RumBumRacing on Twitter for updates throughout the weekend. Live timing and scoring can be found at www.imsa.com.
