6-22-07
For Immediate Release

Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Experiences Frustration In Qualifying at Mid-Ohio

The Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team will be put to the test when the green flag drops for Round Seven of the Grand-Am Rolex Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve tomorrow at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Just as Jörg Bergmeister was getting set to qualify the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche Crawford, he began heating up the tires, prior to pulling off pit lane, when the drive shaft broke. As a result, the No. 23 machine will start from the rear of the 19-car field for the EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank.

_Somehow my qualifying sessions are getting shorter and shorter,_ Bergmeister said with a good-spirited smile on his face and frustration in his voice. _Last time at VIR we broke the push rod in the rear on my first flying lap and now I didn_t even make it out of pit lane due to a broken drive shaft. I think there was some damage from the problem we had in the second practice session. With all of the problems we_ve had so far this weekend, the race should be perfect. I think we_ve gotten all of our bad luck out of the way.

_We have another warm-up session [prior to the race]. Right now, we don_t really know where we are in terms of the setup because we only did three laps in the practice session before [qualifying]. We changed the car almost completely before that session. And now, we didn_t turn any laps in qualifying _ this doesn_t make things easier._

In today_s second Daytona Prototype practice session, Patrick Long turned three laps before a broken gearbox forced the No. 23 Daytona Prototype into the Turn Two gravel. Although the team was able to fix the gearbox prior to qualifying, it is believed that the drive shaft may have experienced residual damage when car went off track. 

_Unfortunately, we lost almost the entire session before qualifying and now we_ve lost qualifying,_ team owner Alex Job said. _So, we are really behind the game in terms of setup. It is a _guesstimate_ now with what we_ve got to race with. But, we_ve got to come from the back to the front. I believe we can do it._  

Piloting the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche Crawford, Long started from the pole in last year_s EMCO Gears Classic, while Bergmeister finished second driving the No. 76 Ford Riley. This season, the team has one win, two top-five and five top-10 finishes.

Final practice for the Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototypes will start at 10:05 a.m. (EDT) Saturday, June 23, with green flag racing set for 5:45 p.m. (EDT). Fans can catch same day race coverage on SPEED Channel beginning at 8 p.m. (EDT) June 23.

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 a variety of handcrafted burgers, including its exclusive Triple Prime Burger, and a wide assortment of fresh signature items and entrees, among them the Fresh Garden Bar, Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, Chicken Fresco and Prime Sirloin Steak. Ruby Tuesday, Inc. is traded on the NY Stock Exchange (symbol: RT). To find out more about Ruby Tuesday, visit www.rubytuesday.com.