Lexington, OH (June 26, 2006) – It was a wild weekend in Mid-Ohio, as intense weather and racing made for an action-packed Round 9 of the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve. Derhaag Motorsports with drivers Chris Bingham and Randy Ruhlman made the most of it by taking the #40 Preformed Line Products Pontiac Riley to a twelfth place finish in Saturday's Daytona Prototype endurance race. On hand for the three-hour EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank at the a 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course were over 350 guests from the team's major sponsors, Preformed Line Products and KeyBank, both local Cleveland-area companies.

A huge cell of thunderstorms pounded the track late Thursday afternoon after a rainy day of practice. Torrential rain, wind, and tornadic activity caused major damage at the race track; trees were down in the infield, every canopy in pit lane was shredded and twisted, and several hospitality tents collapse or ended up in trees or on-track. Local towns and hotels spent a dark night, many without power or water.

By Friday, with the clean up well underway, intermittent morning rain made car setup and practice difficult, as warm temperatures and clear skies were predicted for Saturday's race. Derhaag Motorsports used the dry Saturday morning pre-race session to make final set-up changes to the #40 Daytona Prototype. "We hadn't gotten much time in the car on Thursday or Friday, but we changed a few things today during practice, and I loved the car. It was fun, it was fast, and most importantly, it handled well and was predictable. We had a great car at the end of the session, and I was able to go through traffic right with Andy Wallace in the #4 BOSS car. I couldn't wait to get back in it for the race," said Randy Ruhlman, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, about the pre-race practice.

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