1-27-07
-- For Immediate Release
Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Six Hour
Report from Rolex 24 at Daytona
It was an inauspicious start
for the Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team and driver Patrick
Long, as a short time into the 45th running of the Grand-Am Rolex
Sports Car Series Rolex 24 at Daytona, the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday
Championship Racing Team Porsche Crawford Daytona Prototype had
a problem with the alternator.
The Las Vegas native Long literally had his hands full with the
car because a secondary issue, stemming from a loose alternator
connection, was the loss of power steering. Long reported no power
steering in the high-bank corners. The team tried to diagnose the
problem without having Long pit before the first round of scheduled
stops (approximately laps 33 or 34). According to car engineer
Greg Fordahl, the team had Long try the IPU override switch, which
bypasses the fuses, and also had Long try to connect the bypass
battery - neither seemed to resolve the issue.
"The power steering issue was a bit of a surprise," Long said. "When
you're on the oval, you're shifting and using one hand a lot of
the time and when the power steering went out, the car wanted to
head towards the wall. But, luckily I was able to keep it out there
for a couple of more laps."
Long made it to the first schedule pit stop, where the team discovered
a broken alternator post - this explained why the car would lose
power in the high-bank corners because the post would separate
from the alternator causing a loose connection.
With the rear deck off, the team worked frantically to change the
alternator. The Ruby Tuesday Team made the alternator change, put
on four fresh Hoosier tires, added fuel and put Frenchman Romain
Dumas in the car. By this time, the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship
Racing Team Porsche Crawford was nearly six laps down in 27th place.
"It is difficult," Dumas said of having to try to catch the leaders
so many laps down. "We just have to drive the car carefully and
hope that other cars have problems too. The car is O.K. now and
the speed is better [than it was during his first stint]. But,
there is still a long way to go in the race."
After the first initial problem, the next five hours were basically
without incident. In fact, by the time defending Daytona Prototype
champion Jörg Bergmeister started his second stint, the Alex
Job Racing prepared No. 23 Porsche Crawford was eight laps down
in 16th position.
"Unfortunately we had some bad luck at the beginning," Bergmeister
said of the race start. "Now we are just trying to run our pace
and gain positions. Other than that, things are going pretty well.
The car was a little loose on my opening stint. But, with the cooler
temperatures, things should get better now."
With approximately 18 hours remaining, can history repeat itself?
Last year, after sustaining a broken rear boot on the car's right
rear half-shaft on lap 55, the team made a full recovery from seven
laps down to take the race lead only to settle for third place.
The answer to the question is, 'Only time will tell.'
The 45th running of the Grand-Am Rolex Series 24 Hours at Daytona
airs from 8 to 10 p.m. (EST) Jan. 27 lon Speed Channel, with coverage
resuming at 6 a.m. (EST) Sunday, Jan. 28.
Ruby Tuesday is one of the nation's leading casual-dining restaurant
companies, with more than 900 restaurants worldwide. It was founded
in 1972 by Sandy Beall, who serves as Chairman and CEO today. The
company is committed to having uncompromising freshness and quality
with passionate employees who take pride in delighting guests with
an excellent dining experience. The burger-centric menu features
an assortment of handcrafted burgers, its fresh garden bar, premium
baby back ribs and a variety of other signature entrées.
Ruby Tuesday, Inc. is traded on the NY Stock Exchange (symbol:
RI). To find out more about Ruby Tuesday, visit www.rubytuesday.com.
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