INDIANAPOLIS (25 July 2014) – Rum Bum Racing had been hoping to kiss the bricks at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday as the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge visited the iconic track for Round 8 of the championship, but instead, the team was kissed with bad luck with a disappointing race weekend at the Brickyard.
The Florida-based squad unloaded off the trailer with confidence for the quick two-day event with drivers Matt Plumb and Nick Longi, the defending IMSA champions. Thursday saw two practice sessions ahead of qualifying and the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche posted the seventh and eighth quickest times of the sessions, respectively.
Looking to secure a solid starting spot for the race around the Brickyard in qualifying Thursday afternoon, the No. 13 Porsche was unable to complete a flying lap due to contact early in the session. The damage was enough to keep the car from making a qualifying run and the team went to work Thursday night to make repairs.
Longhi was ready to make big moves through the field in Friday’s 2.5-hour race before turning the car over to Plumb, but unfortunately the race day ended early for the team. After just one lap of running, the motor on the No. 13 let go and Longhi was forced to pull the car off track.
“First off, a shout out to our friend Jackie who is battling a health issue, I’m sorry we were not able to entertain her longer today and we are out so early,” said Plumb, who serves as both driver and Team Manager for Rum Bum Racing. “This is tough. Luck is a funny thing—when you’ve got it, you’ve got it. But we’ve been in a rough patch the last two races. It’s hard, the Rum Bum guys rebuilt the car after the incident at Mosport to be ready for this weekend and then after the incident in qualifying, we had to put a lot of work into the car again so this is really disappointing. I hate it for Luis (Bacardi) and for all the effort this team has put in. But we’ll be ready to go again for Jennifer’s (Bacardi) home race and really will be looking to get back on the good luck train up there.”
Rum Bum Racing next heads to Road America in two weeks and the 2012 & 2013 championship-winning team will look to go for its third consecutive win at the historic road course.
