ALTON, VA – It’s been a perfect season so far for young Jacob Ruud in the debut of the TCX racing division with two more victories this weekend at VIRginia International Raceway in the TC America competition, a portion of the big SRO America road racing weekend.
Ruud, entering the 2021 TCX racing with four wins in the first four feature events at Sonoma Raceway and Circuit of the Americas (COTA), proved to be the class of the TCX field again Saturday and Sunday in his No. 81 Light Speed/Classic BMW BMW M2 CS Racing Cup sports car at the fast 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course in southern Virginia.
The college senior at Rochester Institute of Technology won the pole on Saturday and led wire-to-wire in a shortened TC America Race 1 feature due to a late crash in the rear of the field. It marked Jacob’s fifth 2021 TCX triumph that included the fastest race lap.
The Racine, Wis., youngster returned on Sunday to start on the pole and dominated his sixth 2021 TCX main event with another fastest race lap. Similar to Saturday’s race finish, the red flag was flown with 12 minutes remaining in the 40-minute sprint race due to race incident in the TCA class. So far, Ruud has six TCX race wins, six TCX poles and six TCX fastest race laps.
Ruud now holds a huge TCX point lead at the halfway point of the TC America campaign.
In addition to Ruud’s double victories, young Olivia Askew of Salt Lake City, UT, debuted in the TCX category with her No. 3 DXDT/Classic BMW BMW M2 CS Racing Cup car with fourth and sixth placings in the two TCX sprint races.
“Again, the Fast Track Racing/Classic BMW crew gave me a fantastic M2 to drive this weekend,” said Ruud after his Sunday win. “We didn’t run in the first Friday practice as the track was damp and we knew the weather looked clear for the rest of the weekend. The VIR is fast and so much fun to drive, especially with these BMW M2 cars. We have a break now until August, but we are going to two of my favorite tracks next – Road America (Aug. 27-29) and Watkins Glen (Sept. 17-19). Can’t wait to race the M2 at those tracks.”
The TCX and TC America highlights will be televised on the CBS Sports Network on Sunday (June 13) at 1:30 p.m. EDT.