"The Best Car I've Ever Had" Powers Rum Bum Racing to Lime Rock Park Victory

Lakeville, Conn. (28 May 2011) - Just two weeks after suffering disappointment that would have put lesser teams on their back foot, Rum Bum Racing rebounded with an outstanding start to finish performance to return to victory lane as Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb won the Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park with the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing BMW M3.

The race, which marked the halfway point of the 2011 season, followed a race-ending crash with the No. 13 Rum Bum BMW M3 in the most recent round after Plumb was punted off-track at VIR while battling in the lead pack.

"The car was just perfect, lap after lap it did the same thing--every lap," said Plumb of his run up front. "The car couldn't have been better. It was the best car I've ever driven. It was the same in every corner, on every lap, the entire time. And the fact that that thing was in pieces a week ago, and now it's at the top of the podium. It is unbelievably magical."

Longhi opened the race from third on the grid, and after judiciously avoiding some questionable driving from a competitor, moved in to the lead on lap 44 before turning the car over to Plumb on a lap 63 pit stop. Stalking his way back up the order, Plumb put the Rum Bum machine back up front on lap 83, and never looked back, growing a huge lead over the rest of the field in the final 60 laps. But it was not a clear sail into the sunset, as a pair of late-race caution periods erased the gap and gave the field two shots at dethroning the leading No. 13.

But Plumb would have none of it, pulling away both times to come home an elated first-place as Rum Bum Racing scored a second win of the season to launch back up to second in the unofficial standings.

"It was a hectic couple of weeks after we got taken out at VIR. And the car was close to destroyed, almost totaled," said Longhi. "These guys, Joe Varde and everyone here, just worked so hard. It is a great outcome and fantastic reward that all the guys put in to fix this car. There was so much wrong, but they did a perfect job. I'm really glad to be here. We really didn't know what we were going to have on our hands. It turned out, obviously, perfect. The goal was to do the best we could here and get to Watkins Glen next week, which is another important race for us and a track we like. First place is obviously a testament to a perfect job done by the crew. It's all them."