ELKHART LAKE, WI – Local racer Jacob Ruud of Racine, WI, continued his winning performances this weekend at Road America when the 21-year-old college student scored his seventh TCX sports car class victory in the TC America road racing competition.
Ruud, driving the No. 81 Light Speed/Classic BMW BMW M2 CS machine for Fast Track Racing, entered the SRO America doubleheader racing weekend at Road America with six victories in six starts. And Ruud opened the action with another pole position for the first 40-minute sprint race at the legendary four-mile road circuit.
Ruud grabbed the lead at the green flag and led Saturday’s TCX feature wire-to-wire with a 1.478-second triumph over Oregon’s Steve Streimer and Stephen Cugliari of New York, both in BMW M2 CS cars.
Ruud came back in Sunday’s TCX feature in search of an eighth consecutive series win and started again from the pole. But in this race, Ruud had to concede the lead to Cugliari early in the event as the New York racer had fresher tires. Jacob made several attempts to take back the lead but had to settle for the runner-up spot after 40 minutes of action. It was Jacob’s first loss of the season, but the senior of the Rochester Institute of Technology extended his large point lead with six races remaining in the TCX tour.
Ruud has collected seven victories, eight poles and six fastest race laps in eight races in 2021.
“The first event of the weekend was a good one with the pole, fast race lap and the win,” said Ruud, who attended races at Road America as an infant when his father, Chris, drove in Ferrari events at the track. “The competition has been getting stronger in recent races and we knew it wouldn’t be easy at Road America.
“The BMW M2 has been a great new car all season and other drivers are entering the class as the season continues. I had to be on my game for this weekend. In the second race, I thought we could hold off Stephen for another win. But I think he had fresher rubber at the start. I chased him down but just couldn’t get by at the end. Sure, I would have liked to have won another doubleheader weekend but a 1-2 is still good. And it shows the class is very competitive too.”
In addition to Ruud’s 1-2 finish in the two TCX main events at Road America this weekend, the Fast Track Racing squad also collected third and fourth place finishes from John Hennessy of Bellevue, WA, in the No. 50 Classic BMW BMW M2 CS mount and a fourth with young Olivera Askew of Salt Lake City, UT, in the No. 3 DXDT/Classic BMW BMW M2 CS car.
The highlights of the Road America TCX events will be televising on Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 8 p.m. EDT with an encore showing on Thursday, Sept. 9, at 12:30 a.m. EDT.
The next TC America series races are scheduled for the popular Watkins Glen International course in upstate New York on Sept. 17-19 as Ruud continues his quest of the initial TCX division championship.