Notes:
*Rum Bum Racing extends its lead in the championship standings to a 54-point margin
*The victory marks Rum Bum Racing’s second consecutive win at Road America. The team also finished third in its debut at the track in 2011
*The result gives Rum Bum Racing its 14^th overall CTSCC win, and third win of the season

Elkhart Lake, Wis. (10 August 2013) – With a healthy lead in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship standings, some teams might be content to just cruise to a race finish. But ever since scoring a win in the team’s very first race, people have come to expect the unexpected from Rum Bum Racing.

With Joe Varde calling a bold pit strategy, drivers Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi combined to score a 14th win for Rum Bum Racing with a dramatic victory at Road America on Saturday as the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche 997 took the checkered flag on fumes after 2.5-hours of hard racing.

The victory, which came with team owner Luis and Jennifer Bacardi on hand as well as a large group of vocal Rum Bum Racing supporters, moved the team into an even stronger position in the GRAND-AM championship as the team looks to make a successful defense of its 2012 championship title.

Longhi opened the race from seventh on the 51-car combined class grid with the goal of running a conservative stint and handing the car over to Plumb in prime race condition. And he accomplished just that as he kept the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche in the top-10 during his 30-minute run before handing the car over to Plumb as the team took advantage of the second full course caution of the race to bring the car to pit lane as the race reached the 30-minute mark.

“My strategy was to be very careful – it was a little hectic in terms of traffic because there was some banging and beating going on,” said Longhi of the opening stint. “The first restart was pretty wild. Somebody checked up and everybody ran into each other but I was just really, really trying to stay out of it. There’s not a scratch on the car and I’m pretty happy about that – that was the goal, not to damage the car at any cost. I knew right away that we had a pretty good car and if we could keep it together and get to the end, it would be good.”

Plumb took control of the No. 13 Rum Bum Porsche that the team built and won on debut at Mid-Ohio and restarted 10th in line. He wasted no time in moving forward as he worked his way into the seventh position. He would continue to make forward progress through the field into the top-five until he was called to pit lane for the team’s second and final pit stop.

As the No. 13 Porsche emerged from pit lane sixth and with 1 hour and 12 minutes still remaining in the race following the stop, the Rum Bum squad hoped for another caution period. But when one never came, Plumb was asked to continually conserve fuel in order to make it to the finish. With the tension ratcheting up with each successive lap, several cars peeled down pit lane for a splash of fuel, but crew chief Joe Varde made the call to keep the No. 13 Porsche on track and when the leading car took to pit lane for its splash of fuel, Plumb inherited the race lead.

With the many Rum Bum Racing fans in attendance holding their breaths, the Rum Bum engineers watched the fuel numbers from the pit box and the call was made not to take the extra stop for fuel. Plumb had masterfully met the fuel numbers the team had called for as he took over the lead for the final three laps of the race to take the victory.

“I was very nervous – the whole time we knew we were going to conserve and try to do a really long run there,” said Plumb. “On the restarts we just took it easy. I knew if it stayed green the whole time it was going to be tight. So we just kept playing it conservative and I just ran it as far as I could until the bobble and I kept backing myself up and a new car would be catching me and then they’d drop off to the pits for fuel and then I’d conserve more. We got lucky, but when you have this much luck it says something about the people who are making the calls. Joe (Varde) was on me to conserve, conserve, conserve. I have such good faith in Joe and (engineer) Ed Semf and John Terry who were running the numbers. To do this in front of Jennifer Bacardi’s hometown crowd – this is what we work so hard to do. It’s one thing when you win in front of a bunch of strangers but when you win in front of the boss, his wife and a whole bunch of friends it makes it that much more worth it.”

“There was nothing I could do from the pit box and so I was just hoping it would work out,” offered Longhi of the final laps. “It was well-planned, well-executed, and the combination of a lot of things all coming together. I’m very happy for everybody. Clearly the team did a fantastic job – preparing the car, figuring out the fuel and our strategy. All these pieces came together and when the luck comes your way, you have to be in a position to take advantage of it and that’s what happened today. I’m extremely happy for Luis and Jennifer Bacardi and everybody here celebrating with us.”

Rum Bum Racing extends its lead in the championship to a 54-point advantage as the team travels to Kansas Speedway next week for Round 9 of the championship.

The Road America event will be televised on August 17 at 4:00 PM (ET) on SPEED.

The post Rum Bum Racing Repeat Winners at Road America appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

Elkhart Lake, Wis.  (9 August 2013) – When you feel like you have a winning hand, it doesn’t always pay to show all your cards early in the game. The same approach could be said of Rum Bum Racing’s Nick Longhi, who brought a conservative mindset to the qualifying session on Friday at Road America.

Longhi, who along with co-driver Matt Plumb, leads the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Championship, will start the race from seventh on the Road America 200 grid after Longhi posted a fast lap time of 2:23.512-seconds in the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche.

The team will look to score another podium finish in the home state of Jennifer Bacardi, team owner Luis Bacardi’s wife, who has proven to be a good luck charm to the team every visit to the fabled Wisconsin track. The team certainly knows the way to where the champagne is sprayed, having scored a third place finish at the track in 2011 and then winning the 2012 edition of the event.

The qualifying session marked the final session of the day for the team, which will return to the track for an early start to Saturday’s race day. After Longhi and Plumb make a morning visit to the Porscheplatz to meet and greet a large contingent of Porsche Club members, it will be time to go racing at 12:30 PM local time. The 2.5-hour race is set to go green at 1:30 PM (ET). Live timing and scoring is available on www.grandam.com. SPEED will televise the race Saturday, August 17 at 4:00 PM (ET).

The post Rum Bum Racing Plays Conservative Hand in Qualifying at Road America appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

Elkhart Lake, Wis.  (9 August 2013) - When you feel like you have a winning hand, it doesn’t always pay to show all your cards early in the game. The same approach could be said of Rum Bum Racing’s Nick Longhi, who brought a conservative mindset to the qualifying session on Friday at Road America.

Longhi, who along with co-driver Matt Plumb, leads the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Championship, will start the race from seventh on the Road America 200 grid after Longhi posted a fast lap time of 2:23.512-seconds in the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche.

Orlando, Fla. (6 August 2013) – The GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series (CTSCC) travels to diverse racetracks all across the country, but the visit to historic Road America has become a driver favorite ever since the series began competing at the road course in 2011. And Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing may well be the most enthused for the 2013 event as the Florida-based team returns as the defending race winners carrying a 33-point advantage in the championship.

Rum Bum Racing rallied to score a dramatic race victory at Road America last year as a huge crowd of Rum Bum Racing fans were on hand to take part in the podium celebrations after Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi combined for the team’s third race win of the season. The race result was a sweet salvation for the team, having been in position to win the 2011 Road America event only to have their chance for the win cut short by yellow flags.

It marked the second consecutive podium for the Rum Bum Racing squad at Road America in as many races and the team will look to go three-for-three in this weekend’s race. The group has extra incentive to perform well at the famed 4-mile Wisconsin road course as it’s a bit of a home race for the team.  Team owner Luis Bacardi’s wife Jennifer is a Wisconsin native, and has brought a large group of her extended family and friends to the previous two Road America events.

The Road America 200, which was added to the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series schedule in 2011, sees the highly competitive series staging a pivotal race on a track that most racers are hard pressed not to call their favorite.

“The competition in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series is just fantastic,” said Longhi. “What’s going on right now – the level of racing right now in this series is unbelievable. There are so many good drivers. Everybody is nose to tail for two and a half hours and as soon as something goes wrong it’s a big issue. But it’s really fantastic. We love to be in Wisconsin, and love to be at this racetrack!”

With a race that started in the light and raced into the darkness last year, the verdant natural surroundings set the stage for an exciting Round 6 of the 2012 championship.

The Road America win gave Rum Bum Racing the championship lead heading into the remainder of the season. The Rum Bum team would go on to win two more races and secure the 2012 Team Championship title in the season-finale race held at Lime Rock Park.

Having sat among the top of the point standings once again throughout most the 2013 season, Rum Bum Racing currently leads the championship by 33 points and is hoping for a repeat performance as the team targets another trip to Road America victory lane and another healthy haul of points toward the 2013 championship.

“Nick (Longhi) and I work really hard in the car to get the best possible result that we can, but we all know that without the hard work of this crew that we would have no chance of success,” said Plumb. “All the credit goes to Mr. Bacardi for believing in this group and to Joe (Varde) for his vision and leadership on the pit wall. Hopefully we can continue to bring big results for the entire team and work towards another championship.”

The GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge weekend will open on Wednesday with a promoter test day. Friday will see practice ahead of qualifying on Saturday. The 2.5-hour race is set to go green at 1:30 PM (ET).

Live timing and scoring is available on www.grandam.com. SPEED will televise the race Saturday, August 17 at 4:00 PM (ET).

The post Rum Bum Racing Set to Defend at Road America appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

Orlando, Fla. (6 August 2013) - The GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series (CTSCC) travels to diverse racetracks all across the country, but the visit to historic Road America has become a driver favorite ever since the series began competing at the road course in 2011. And Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing may well be the most enthused for the 2013 event as the Florida-based team returns as the defending race winners carrying a 33-point advantage in the championship.

INDIANAPOLIS (26 July 2013) – As Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing returned to GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge action on Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the team sat atop the championship standings with the goal of extending their points lead with a strong run at the famed Brickyard. Strong drives from both Rum Bum Racing drivers Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb helped the team overcome an ill-timed caution period and maintain their hold on the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS championship with a top-five finish at the iconic Indianapolis circuit.

The visit to the 2.534-mile Indianapolis road course was the third outing for the newly built No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche 911 which met its on-track debut with a victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in June. Though the long straights of the Indianapolis track tend to favor the higher horsepower American Iron V8s of Camaros and Mustangs, Plumb set the fastest race lap with a quick time of 1:35.300-seconds.

Longhi opened the 2.5-hour race from seventh on the grid and immediately made his way into third position in the braking zone of Turn 1. Unfortunately, the quick start was thwarted when the second place car checked up in the following corner, allowing several cars to get around the No. 13 Rum Bum machine, forcing Longhi to settle into the sixth position.

As Longhi focused on running a conservative stint and keeping the car in good position for Plumb to take to the finish, he ran among the top-10 throughout the first hour of the race. Crew Chief Joe Varde called Longhi to pit lane for a routine stop and driver change about an hour into the event and the team delivered with the familiar quickness and efficiency of a Rum Bum pit stop.

“I had a great start because the others were being very conservative,” said Longhi of the opening stint. “It was very slippery out there and it’s not the best track for our car, but the goal was just to keep it conservative and out of danger and give it to Matt (Plumb) in great condition for the end of the race.”

The team’s day took a dramatic turn when a full course yellow came out during Plumb’s outlap, allowing all the other cars to make their stops under caution. At the restart, Plumb found himself 20^th and set out to make his way back to the front of the field. Through a stint that saw three more caution periods, Plumb worked his way into the top-10 and, with 30 minutes left in the race set several quick laps to move up into fifth.

A final full course caution was displayed with just minutes remaining in the race halting Plumb’s progress and setting the fifth place finish position for the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche 911.

“In my mind, fifth is a win for us today,” said Plumb. “Just to come such a long way with the car and the setup. Basically this was a brand new car for us at this track and we were just following the No. 9 car and making sure we were in the right sequence to stick with them. I think we got a little bit unlucky on that yellow. We pitted and then that yellow came out – it definitely put us back in the order and we had to battle through traffic. Then I was getting in traffic and overheating quite a bit and that would slow my progress down. So then I would wait for a caution and on the caution I could kind of leap-frog people. In the end, the yellows really helped us though because we made just the one pit stop and we were saving fuel.”

The result sees Rum Bum Racing extend its championship lead to a 30-point margin as, in two weeks, the team heads to Road America as defending race winners.

“Road America has always been good for us,” added Plumb. “We thought we had the new car figured out after Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen and then we came here and it was completely different. So we are hoping that we can go back to the setup that we have been using and our baseline is closer so we don’t have to kind of reinvent the wheel again like we did here.”

The Brickyard Sports Car Challenge will be broadcast on SPEED, August 3 at 4:00 PM (ET).

The post Rum Bum Racing Fights to Fifth at Indianapolis Motor Speedway appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

INDIANAPOLIS (26 July 2013) – As Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing returned to GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge action on Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the team sat atop the championship standings with the goal of extending their points lead with a strong run at the famed Brickyard. Strong drives from both Rum Bum Racing drivers Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb helped the team overcome an ill-timed caution period and maintain their hold on the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS championship with a top-five finish at the iconic Indianapolis circuit.

Indianapolis, Ind. (25 July 2013) – After the team took a strong second place finish in the most recent race at Watkins Glen, Rum Bum Racing was back in fighting form on Thursday.

Nick Longhi scored seventh on the grid for Friday’s Brickyard Sports Car Challenge with a fast lap time of 1:36.348-seconds in qualifying on Thursday in the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche 911.

Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing squad enters the race weekend with an 18-point advantage in the team championship standings as the team looks to successfully defend its 2012 GRAND-AM Team Championship. Longhi will start the race from behind the wheel before turning the car over to Matt Plumb to take to the finish.

The team, which has won the Mid-Ohio round with an all new car that the team built, will look to keep the podium momentum going this weekend. Racing at Indianapolis is its own unique challenge, as the teams don’t get the chance to test on the ever-changing circuit, which has an infamously tricky surface that varies through its 2.534-mile distance as well as through the changing conditions of the day.

“This track is unlike any other that we visit. The car was very good,” said Longhi. “We would love to be a little bit closer to the front in qualifying but this still is a good place to start from. Between not being able to test, and having a brand new car, we feel good. This whole team is all working from the same playbook and our focus is entirely on the race tomorrow.”

The two practice sessions were both productive as the team worked through a full test plan of action items as the group looked to improve on last year’s ninth place starting spot.

“This was a very solid day for us, and even though I think Nick might have been hoping for a top-five today in qualifying, we’ve made a lot of progress and should be good to go tomorrow,” said Plumb. “It is an incredible opportunity to get to race here at the Speedway and hopefully we can just keep the momentum up with the points and fight our way into a good finish tomorrow.”

The only session of the day on Friday is the race, which will go green at 2:00 PM ET and will be broadcast on SPEED, August 3 at 4:00 PM ET. Live timing and scoring is available at www.grand-am.com.

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Indianapolis, Ind. (25 July 2013) – After the team took a strong second place finish in the most recent race at Watkins Glen, Rum Bum Racing was back in fighting form on Thursday.

Nick Longhi scored seventh on the grid for Friday’s Brickyard Sports Car Challenge with a fast lap time of 1:36.348-seconds in qualifying on Thursday in the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche 911.

Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing squad enters the race weekend with an 18-point advantage in the team championship standings as the team looks to successfully defend its 2012 GRAND-AM Team Championship. Longhi will start the race from behind the wheel before turning the car over to Matt Plumb to take to the finish.

Watch how the Rum Bum Racing team prepares for the unveiling of their new Porsche 997 GTS. With the team’s attention focused on tuning and testing, how did they perform at Mid-Ohio?

Video after the break.

The post Rum Bum Racing unveils Porsche 997 GTS at Mid-Ohio appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

Watch how the Rum Bum Racing team prepares for the unveiling of their new Porsche 997 GTS. With the team’s attention focused on tuning and testing, how did they perform at Mid-Ohio?

Video after the break.

Watkins Glen, NY (29 June 2013) –  After getting off to a challenging start to the race, Rum Bum Racing came roaring back at Watkins Glen to score second place in the Continental Tire 150 on Saturday.

The GRAND-AM podium appearance was the 20th for Rum Bum Racing, and the second in a row for drivers Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi after winning the previous round at Mid-Ohio.

After starting the race from eighth on the grid, Longhi was working his way forward in the pack early on when he misjudged distances in a heavy braking zone, making contact with the No. 9 Camaro.

The impact sent both machines off course and into the gravel trap, but the two championship-leading cars were both able to fight through the sand trap. Unfortunately, the hit loosened the hood on the Porsche as it flipped up, coming to rest on the windshield, robbing Longhi of any view out the front.

Fortunately he still had a strong awareness of where he was as well as hundreds of laps at Watkins Glen, and along with some helpful radio transmissions from the team, was able to make it back to the pits for repairs.

“I lost track of where I was and things slowed down a lot faster than I expected,” said Longhi. “The last thing I wanted to do was hit that car of all cars. It was my fault, and I apologized to the entire Stevenson team and crew after I got out of the car.”

Longhi was deep in the pack after the team used all the adhesive resources it could muster to keep the hood down in an early pit stop. The group made the most of the yellow flag, getting Longhi back on the road and on his way. The incident was deemed avoidable by GRAND-AM, and Longhi was forced to serve the first penalty of his racing career, stopped for 60 seconds before being released back into the fray, still on the lead lap.

A subsequent stop saw Plumb rejoin the field deep down the order. But still on the lead lap and with the proven Rum Bum Racing car and crew in his corner, Plumb was able to click off a series of laps that saw him escalating up the order after running as low as 23rd to race his way up to run second with 30 laps in the books. The team effort was once again on display as the final pit exchange saw Plumb emerge in the lead, clear of the field.

The changing conditions caught several teams and drivers off-guard as Plumb worked on building his lead. But with the rains gaining steam, several drivers had offs and a long full course caution culled the field for over half an hour as Plumb held the point behind the safety car.

While it looked like a run to the checkered flag was once again in the cards, a one-lap dash to the finish saw Plumb cede the lead as he fought through the last lap on slick tires on the still very-wet track. The huge team effort netted yet another podium as Rum Bum Racing grew its championship points lead.

“It was crazy!” said Longhi after the race. “All of the credit goes to the team, 100%, we never give up.  Matt (Plumb) is a rockstar to get it to the front and the whole team was just fantastic.”

The wildly changing and challenging conditions had the fans breathless for the final circuit of the race, as no one knew what kind of grip was on offer. Fortunately, Plumb handled the pressure perfectly, holding off the charge from cars with wet tires to score second place at the finish.

“I think Continental has developed a new slick rain tire,” smiled Plumb about how he was able to make the slicks work in the wet conditions. “We worked really hard to get the car balanced both in the dry and the wet and that was how we got to the front. I’m really sorry to the Stevenson guys, we never intend to do things like that and I hope they didn’t get pushed back too far because of it. Thanks to Luis Bacardi, and Rum Bum Racing once again prevails.”

Rum Bum Racing will be back in action at the fabled Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26th as GRAND-AM stages the Brickyard Grand Prix.

The post Team Effort Takes Rum Bum Racing to Watkins Glen Podium appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

Watkins Glen, NY (29 June 2013) –  After getting off to a challenging start to the race, Rum Bum Racing came roaring back at Watkins Glen to score second place in the Continental Tire 150 on Saturday.

The GRAND-AM podium appearance was the 20th for Rum Bum Racing, and the second in a row for drivers Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi after winning the previous round at Mid-Ohio.

After starting the race from eighth on the grid, Longhi was working his way forward in the pack early on when he misjudged distances in a heavy braking zone, making contact with the No. 9 Camaro.

Orlando, Fla. (28 June 2013) – New car blues? Not for Rum Bum Racing.

When Matt Plumb took the checkered flag at Mid-Ohio ahead of the entire GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge field last weekend, it not only marked the 13th time that a Rum Bum Racing car has won in GRAND-AM, but it also was the third time that the team took a brand new machine directly to victory lane.

The team opened its first chapter of GRAND-AM competition back in 2010 by kicking down the door to the fabled winner circle at Daytona International Speedway as young Gian Bacardi teamed with Matt Plumb to bring the team’s BMW M3 a victory in the group’s first-ever race.  The team went on to score three wins in 2010 and then scored three more victories with the No. 13 M3 in 2011 to help power BMW to the GRAND-AM Manufacturer Championship.

Fast forward to April 2012, when Rum Bum Racing made the shock switch to the Porsche 911 at Barber Motorsports Park.  Using a car that another group had built, the move to the rear-engined car didn’t faze the team one bit as Plumb and co-driver Nick Longhi came home with a big win in the Porsche 200 as the team debuted with the famed car from Stuttgart.  The duo, who have a combined GRAND-AM win total of over 30 victories, went on to take five wins in 2012 as the team scored the Team Championship honors.

Led by Luis Bacardi, the team looked forward to 2013 to build and develop the group’s first-ever in-house entry. Taking the full opportunity to not only build the best possible Porsche but also test the car ahead of duty, the Joe Varde-led squad once again impressed at Mid-Ohio as the team won in its first-ever outing in the 911.

“Nick (Longhi) and I work really hard in the car to get the best possible result that we can, but we all know that without the hard work of this crew that we would have no chance of success,” said Plumb. “To win with the car that the team built, and to have it be the 13th victory for the team, was really something special. All the credit goes to Mr. Bacardi for believing in this group and to Joe (Varde) for his vision and leadership on the pit wall. Hopefully we can continue to bring that kind of result for the entire team and work towards another championship.”

The team enters the Continental Tire 150 race weekend at Watkins Glen as defending race winners and will look to once again show what the group is capable of on Saturday.

A 15-minute qualifying session will take place Saturday morning at 10:40 AM (ET) with the 2.5-hour race set to go green at 3:00 PM (ET) Saturday.

Live timing and scoring is available at www.grand-am.com throughout the weekend. SPEED will televise the Continental Tire 150 Sunday, July 7 at 4:00 PM (ET).

The post Mid-Ohio Victory Marks Another Winning Debut for Rum Bum Racing appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

Orlando, Fla. (28 June 2013) – New car blues? Not for Rum Bum Racing.

When Matt Plumb took the checkered flag at Mid-Ohio ahead of the entire GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge field last weekend, it not only marked the 13th time that a Rum Bum Racing car has won in GRAND-AM, but it also was the third time that the team took a brand new machine directly to victory lane.

Orlando, Fla. (25 June 2013) – Not only is Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing fresh off of the team’s most recent victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course two weeks ago, but as Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb return to Watkins Glen this weekend they enter the event as the defending Continental Tire 150 race winners. The duo head to the fabled upstate New York track with an 11-point advantage in the GRAND-AM championship with five rounds in the books.

The Mid-Ohio victory was a big one for Plumb as he became the winningest driver in GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series (CTSCC) history when he claimed his 15^th–career  overall CTSCC win.

“I was surprised to find out about that statistic, but most of that success-and those wins-is just a result of being a part of this Rum Bum Racing team that Mr. Bacardi assembled,” said Plumb. “Wins are great of course, but the big focus is the championship. The plan was to come away with points from Mid-Ohio with a car all straight and undamaged for the next round. With these close races back-to-back it really sets you back if you bang up the racecar, you go to the next weekend and you’re just a little bit more behind. We’ve got a good car – a winning car – and we’re going into a place where we won last year, so the confidence is high.”

Longhi and Plumb dominated the Watkins Glen event last year on their way to winning the 2012 GRAND-AM team championship by leading a race-high 17 laps in the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche en route to the win. It marked the team’s fourth of five wins in last year’s 10-race season and helped Rum Bum Racing secure the 2012 team championship title in just its third year of CTSCC competition.

In a shrewd strategy move, Rum Bum Racing crew chief Joe Varde made the calculation to be the first car to take the last pit stop in last year’s race with a bold move to bring Plumb in under green flag conditions with over an hour yet to run.

While the significant loss of track position from the stop seemed to signal the end of the day for the team, a series of yellow flag caution periods meant that the team made up the lost ground while also being able to conserve fuel for the final stages of the race. That paid huge dividends as Plumb raced from third to the lead in the final laps, scoring a victory by just .336-seconds.

“We knew what our (fuel) window was, and we just focused on doing what we had to do so that we could pit then and still be good to go the distance,” said Varde of the 2012 Watkins Glen win. “Our car carried a lot of extra weight from GRAND-AM, so we knew we were not going to take it on pace. We had a quick car, but not enough muscle to move up in the pack. This series is incredibly competitive. So we had to figure out another way to win, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.”

Having sat among the top of the point standings for much of the 2013 season to date, Rum Bum Racing currently leads the championship and is hoping for a repeat performance as the team targets another trip to Watkins Glen victory lane and a healthy haul of points toward the 2013 championship.

“We knew last year that we had to pull a bit of a rabbit out of the hat to win the race, so hopefully we can have the pace to be competitive this year,” said Longhi. “We are lucky to get to race on tracks like Watkins Glen and I think you see the whole field raise their game when we go there. The fans are just awesome—really knowledgeable about the sport and so enthusiastic about the show that we put on. It is special to be going back there as defending winners, and hopefully we can do it again this year!”

The Continental Tire 150 at the Glen event opens on Thursday with a promoter test day followed by official practice on Friday. A 15-minute qualifying session will take place Saturday morning at 10:40 AM (ET) with the 2.5-hour race set to go green at 3:00 PM (ET) Saturday.

Live timing and scoring is available at www.grand-am.com throughout the weekend. SPEED will televise the Continental Tire 150 Sunday, July 7 at 4:00 PM (ET).

The post Rum Bum Racing Looks to Stay on Top at Watkins Glen appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

Orlando, Fla. (25 June 2013) – Not only is Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing fresh off of the team’s most recent victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course two weeks ago, but as Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb return to Watkins Glen this weekend they enter the event as the defending Continental Tire 150 race winners. The duo head to the fabled upstate New York track with an 11-point advantage in the GRAND-AM championship with five rounds in the books.

Lexington, Ohio (15 June 2013) – Sometimes all you need is a little bit of luck and that’s exactly what Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing got in Saturday’s Diamond Cellar Classic as the team scored lucky number win 13  in the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche.

The usual shrewd strategy from the Rum Bum team as well as perfect driving by drivers Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb propelled the No. 13 machine to the front of the 56-car combined class GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge field. But as fuel strategy came into play late in the race, it was a lucky full course caution with under 10 minutes remaining that sealed the deal for Rum Bum Racing to take their second win of the season.

The result marked a return trip to the Mid-Ohio podium as Plumb and Longhi finished third in last year’s event on their way to claiming the 2012  GRAND-AM Team Championship Title.

Longhi opened the race from the fourth row after having qualified the No. 13 Porsche eighth on the grid. He ran a very strong opening stint – moving up to fifth on just the first lap. He continued to move his way forward to run as high as second before a brilliant call from the Joe Varde-led Rum Bum squad saw the No. 13 take its first pit stop immediately prior to a full course caution about an hour into the race.

“The first time I got in the car was yesterday and I actually, quite frankly was feeling terrible,” said Longhi. “I had a long travel day on Thursday and missed the promoter test day and had a migraine yesterday so definitely wasn’t feeling on top of it and the car was new to me. But this morning I woke up feeling better. This is a strong team. I knew on the start I had to make up for lost time and I got a couple of guys, which was great. It just went really well. We also had a bit of a radio issue, but fundamentally we made the right call at the right time to pit and we were able to get in at the right time.”

A quick, efficient pit stop by the Rum Bum crew saw Plumb return to the track sixth in the order for the restart, and he wasted no time in moving forward, making it look easy as he maneuvered his way up into the second position in just a matter of laps. When the third of four cautions was displayed on Lap 50 with about 45 minutes remaining in the race, the leader headed down pit lane, but the Rum Bum team took a gamble and kept the No. 13 Porsche out on track in hopes that another full course caution would give them the necessary fuel mileage to make it to the end.

Plumb restarted at the point and led for 31 laps defending against the hard charging No. 96 BMW of Bill Auberlen. As the laps waned, so did the fuel in the No. 13 machine. The team knew it would be very close on fuel in order to make it to the finish, but with less than 10 minutes remaining in the race, a full course caution was displayed and the Rum Bum team breathed a collective sigh of relief – knowing that Plumb would indeed make it to the checkered flag on the amount of fuel in the car.

However, the caution also set up a two-lap dash to the finish with a bevy of hungry GS machines also pursuing the victory behind the No. 13 Rum Bum Porsche. But Plumb once again kept his cool behind the wheel as he brought the No. 13 Porsche across the finish line first with a .452-second advantage.

“It was perfect! We got so lucky there at the end,” said Plumb of the win. “Once again ‘Lucky 13’ came through at the end for us. We were spot on from the beginning to the end. We only did one set of Continental Tires and they were just so consistent throughout the whole run.  I’m sorry Luis Bacardi couldn’t be here today but hopefully we did well for him.”

“It’s crazy, congratulations to everybody in this field,” added Longhi. “The level of driving and preparation in the Continental Tire Challenge is fantastic. It’s just such a privilege to be here. With that said, I personally didn’t do what I needed to do in qualifying but hopefully I made up for it today and just handed the car off to Matt in a good position. I’m calm because, I keep saying it over and over again, this is the best team I have ever worked with. It’s mind-blowing.”

The victory extends Rum Bum Racing’s championship lead to an 11-point advantage as the team returns to race action at Watkins Glen in two weeks to defend their 2012 win at the Upstate New York road course.

SPEED will televise the Diamond Cellar Classic event on Sunday, June 23 at 4:00 PM (ET).

The post Lucky Win Number 13 for Rum Bum Racing at Mid-Ohio appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

Lexington, Ohio (15 June 2013) – Sometimes all you need is a little bit of luck and that’s exactly what Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing got in Saturday’s Diamond Cellar Classic as the team scored lucky number win 13  in the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche.

The usual shrewd strategy from the Rum Bum team as well as perfect driving by drivers Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb propelled the No. 13 machine to the front of the 56-car combined class GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge field. But as fuel strategy came into play late in the race, it was a lucky full course caution with under 10 minutes remaining that sealed the deal for Rum Bum Racing to take their second win of the season.

Lexington, Ohio (14 June 2013) — Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing will start the Diamond Cellar Classic from ninth on the grid at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday after Nick Longhi posted a fast lap time of 1:31.297-seconds in qualifying on Friday in the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche..

The result is the fifth top-10 start of the season for Rum Bum Racing, which leads the championship points standings in pursuit of a successful defense of its 2012 GRAND-AM Team Championship title.

Longhi will open the 2.5-hour race from the cockpit before turning the car over to Matt Plumb as the Joe Varde-led squad looks to extend its record of success at the natural terrain circuit, having scored three podium finishes in four visits to Mid-Ohio.

“The car was good, but frankly I just didn’t get everything out of it that I could,” said Longhi. “I’m frustrated–but just with myself. I had a tough travel day yesterday so missed the promoter test. So this was my first day in the car. It should be fine for the race, but I know I left some time out there so I’m hoping to be able to make up some ground in the race tomorrow.”

The team, which staged an open-house for an enthusiastic group of Porsche Club members during the day, showed little sense of concern despite starting from deeper in the field than is the Rum Bum Racing norm. But time and time again, the team has found its way to the front, no matter what the circumstances and that will be the target again on Saturday.

“It is great to be back at the track racing again,” said Plumb as the Continental Tire Challenge resumes after a month-long break in action. “I know Nick wasn’t entirely happy with how qualifying went but we know we’ve got a great car underneath us and there are a lot of laps to run tomorrow. This team is incredible, and we’ve got some guys trying to chase us down in the championship so the big focus is the big picture tomorrow.”

The race will go green at 10:35 AM ET–you can follow the timing at www.grand-am.com.

The post Rum Bum Looking for Mid-Ohio Podium Once Again appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

Lexington, Ohio (14 June 2013) – Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing will start the Diamond Cellar Classic from ninth on the grid at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday after Nick Longhi posted a fast lap time of 1:31.297-seconds in qualifying on Friday in the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche..

The result is the fifth top-10 start of the season for Rum Bum Racing, which leads the championship points standings in pursuit of a successful defense of its 2012 GRAND-AM Team Championship title.

Orlando, Fla. (10 June 2013) – When Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing team arrives at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Diamond Cellar Classic & Round 5 of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, the driving duo of Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi will be targeting the team’s third consecutive Mid-Ohio podium in just four years of racing at the popular 2.258-mile Ohio road course.

Rum Bum Racing won the 2011 season-finale at Mid-Ohio driving the No. 13 BMW M3, but following the season-opening race in 2012, the team made the decision to transition to a Porsche 911 and the decision proved to be a good one. The podium run of third at Mid-Ohio helped Rum Bum Racing secure the 2012 Team Championship title with the Florida-based team also winning five races of the 10-race championship last year.

Longhi, who initially spotted for Rum Bum Racing before moving to the cockpit late in the 2010 season, proved to be a strong addition to the team from day one, playing a key role as the qualifying and starting driver. He qualified fourth in the 2011 Mid-Ohio event and followed that up last year with the second quickest qualifying time to start from the outside pole.

“The Rum Bum guys have worked hard to give us a strong, quick car each and every race weekend and those efforts have certainly shown on the track,” said Longhi. “We’ve had a strong year with solid results and I’m really looking forward to returning to Mid-Ohio. It’s a fun and challenging track and I think we have another good shot for a finish at the front.”

Rum Bum Racing played a crucial role in helping BMW win the 2010 and 2011 GRAND-AM Manufacturer Championships when the team campaigned a BMW M3. In 2012, it was Porsche that was helped most by Rum Bum Racing on the way to the Manufacturers Championship after the team made the switch to Porsche.

Rum Bum Racing has shown that no matter what they are racing, they can take it to the front. What makes this team click? Luis Bacardi assembled a veritable all-star team when he brought Rum Bum Racing together.

“Luis Bacardi and Jennifer Bacardi definitely made all of our dreams come true with the championship,” said Plumb. “There were ups and downs but Rum Bum Racing is always there and is always doing the right thing. They’re always prepared and keep moving forward. “

The team recently tested at the Mid-Ohio facility in preparation for this weekend’s event. The weekend opens with a promoter test day on Thursday followed by official practice and qualifying on Friday. The 2.5-hour Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race will begin Saturday at 10:35 AM (ET).

Live timing and scoring is available throughout the weekend at www.grand-am.com. SPEED will televise the race Sunday, June 23 at 4:00 PM (ET).

The post Rum Bum Racing Targets Third Consecutive Podium at Mid-Ohio appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

Orlando, Fla. (10 June 2013) - When Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing team arrives at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Diamond Cellar Classic & Round 5 of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, the driving duo of Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi will be targeting the team’s third consecutive Mid-Ohio podium in just four years of racing at the popular 2.258-mile Ohio road course.

Rum Bum Racing won the 2011 season-finale at Mid-Ohio driving the No. 13 BMW M3, but following the season-opening race in 2012, the team made the decision to transition to a Porsche 911 and the decision proved to be a good one. The podium run of third at Mid-Ohio helped Rum Bum Racing secure the 2012 Team Championship title with the Florida-based team also winning five races of the 10-race championship last year.

Atlanta, Ga. (20 April 2013) – Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing got knocked back, but didn’t fall down. Drivers Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi suffered two tough hits and some bad luck in pit lane during Round 4 of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at Road Atlanta, but that didn’t keep the team from retaining the championship points lead.

Longhi opened the PWC 250 at Road Atlanta event from the pole after Friday’s qualifying session was rained out and the grid was set by championship point order. Showing strength from the drop of the green flag, the No. 13 immediately pulled out a two-second advantage over the 60-car combined class field. But just four laps into the 2.5-hour event, the GS field encountered the slower ST traffic and a pack of cars began to catch the No. 13.

Longhi found himself in a battle for the point with the No. 55 but unfortunately his very strong run was thwarted when the No. 55 punted the No. 13 Porsche out of the lead with Longhi falling to eighth in the order.

“It is such a shame, because the first 10 laps were great,” offered Longhi. “I was running a pace that would preserve the car because you know you’re going to catch traffic. Everything was going according to plan until the contact from the 55 car. The car was great – it was really hooked up and we had a good lead. I just don’t know what he thought he was doing there.”

The Rum Bum squad didn’t let the setback slow them down as Longhi was back to fourth prior to the team’s first pit stop with 45 minutes completed in the race.

Ready to make a traditional fast Rum Bum pit stop and driver change, Longhi brought the No. 13 to pit lane only to find the bad racing luck continue when tow trucks on pit road forced him to come to a complete stop and excruciatingly wait while several other cars who had already passed the trucks were able to make their pit stops and return to the track.

Once finally in the pit box, the Rum Bum crew delivered a lightning fast pit stop, but the track position had already been lost and Plumb restarted from the 15^th position.

Despite the fact that the Porsche was losing a bumper due to the early-race contact and slowing the car considerably as it acted like a parachute, Plumb once again began a relentless charge through the field during the second half of the race to challenge for the fifth position with just under 20 minutes remaining.

But that strong run was again halted when a competing BMW misjudged his braking distance taking to the grass (which was wet from Friday’s rain storms) and only slowed down by hitting the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche.

Following the hit, Plumb fell to 10^th in the order and the track immediately went yellow for another on-track incident. The race would finish under the yellow and Rum Bum Racing settled for 10^th at the finish.

“We came away with some points, but we definitely had bad luck today,” said Plumb. “We lost a ton of track position when the two tow trucks stopped us in pit lane. I went back out and for as good of a car as we have there is nothing you can do against all the torque and horsepower out there. Where we’re quickest there is no usable space on the racetrack to pass. Towards the end we were challenging for fifth and I felt like we could have maybe made it up onto the podium, but then boom, contact from the No. 48. This track just breeds impatience. All in all not a great day, but you can’t win them all.”

With the result, Rum Bum Racing maintains the provisional GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship standings with a six-point advantage.

The PWC 250 At Road Atlanta will be televised on Saturday, April 27 at 2:00 PM (ET) on SPEED.

Rum Bum Racing will see an eight-week break in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race action before Round 5 of the championship at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course June 13-15.

The post Double Bumps Knock Rum Bum From Strong Result at Road Atlanta appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

Atlanta, Ga. (20 April 2013) – Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing got knocked back, but didn’t fall down. Drivers Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi suffered two tough hits and some bad luck in pit lane during Round 4 of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at Road Atlanta, but that didn’t keep the team from retaining the championship points lead.

Longhi opened the PWC 250 at Road Atlanta event from the pole after Friday’s qualifying session was rained out and the grid was set by championship point order. Showing strength from the drop of the green flag, the No. 13 immediately pulled out a two-second advantage over the 60-car combined class field. But just four laps into the 2.5-hour event, the GS field encountered the slower ST traffic and a pack of cars began to catch the No. 13.