AUSTIN, Texas – It was a constant trip to the victory podium last Saturday and Sunday for the local Texas state road racing team at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) as the Fast Track Racing/Classic BMW contingent enjoyed a successful weekend in the SRO America road racing series at the 3.426-mile, 20-turn course east of Austin.
Led by another double feature win weekend for the 21-year-old college student Jacob Ruud of Racine, Wis., the Fast Track Racing squad recorded multiple podium visits with the other teammates such as Stevan McAleer, Toby Grahovec and John Hennessy, who made his SRO America debut at COTA.
Ruud, the senior at Rochester Institute of Technology, continued his sensational runs with pole positions, fastest race laps and 40-minute sprint victories in the #81 Light Speed/Classic BMW BMW M2CS Racing Cup sports car despite fighting the heavy rainstorms in Saturday’s 12-lap TCX main event. Jacob returned on Sunday with a dominant performance to score his fourth TCX division triumph in four tries in the TC America sprint competition.
“Sunday’s race was much easier than Saturday’s wild affair,” said Ruud, who captured two TCX races last month at Sonoma Raceway. “In the dry, I had a great car, and everything was just awesome. It was quite a contrast from Saturday’s race when I was driving in my first rain event. It was wild. The track was very tough for the rear-wheel-drive cars and I had to be very careful. But I’m excited to win two races for Fast Track Racing and Classic BMW in their home state of Texas.”
Hennessy, the business executive from Bellevue, Wash., moved into the #50 Classic BMW BMW M2CS Racing Cup machine for the first time in TC America action and put in a very solid showing with a place on the victory podium (third) in TCX on Saturday and fourth on Sunday in his series debut weekend.
Grahovec, the 2016 TC America series champion from Celina, Tex., recorded a third place Sunday in the TC class with his popular #26 Classic BMW BMW M240iR sedan. In Saturday’s TC contest, Toby ran third until he was a victim of the rain on the final lap, and he placed 12th.
The TCX/TC America highlights will be shown on the CBS Sports Network on Sunday (May 9) at 7 p.m. EDT with an encore showing on Monday (May 10) at 12:30 a.m. EDT.