Amy Ruman (born January 30, 1974) is an American

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. She is a two-time champion (2015, 2016) of the

Trans-Am Series The Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of ...

, at its top level, "TA," which completed its 50th anniversary season in 2016. She is also the only female to win the series championship. Ruman is an Ohio native and a graduate of

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

Formative years

Amy Ruman is the daughter of former

driver Bob Ruman, who competed in the series during the 1990s and the early 2000s. Bob started competitive automobile competition in autocross in 1963 at age 21. Early on he focused on Corvette autocross and drag racing. He moved into wheel-to-wheel with the

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, HPDE, Time Trial, Road Racing, RoadRally, and Hill Climbs in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs ...

(SCCA) to win the SCCA Northeast Division GT1 championship. Bob entered Trans Am in the 1990s and still ranks in the top twenty drivers for most race starts with 95, topped by a third-place podium finish during the 2000

Long Beach Grand Prix The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in Downtown Long Beach, downtown Long Beach, California. It was the premier race on the ...

weekend. Amy's mother Barbara was also a competitive Corvette

autocross Autocross is a form of motorsport in which competitors are timed to complete a short course using automobiles on a dirt or grass surface, excepting where sealed surfaces are used in United States. Rules vary according to the governing or sanctioni ...

driver for three decades, and both Amy and her sister Niki competed in racing starting as teenagers.

Early career

Amy Ruman began racing in 1992 at age 18 driving a

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

in autocross events. She graduated to wheel-to-wheel racing in 1995 in SCCA with

Spec Racer Ford Spec Racer Ford is a class of racing car used in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and other series road racing events. The Spec Racer Ford, manufactured and marketed by SCCA Enterprises (a subsidiary of SCCA, Inc.), is a high performance, closed w ...

, eventually scoring a regional championship in 1999. This earned her an invitation to Lyn St. James' Women's Global GT series running

Don Panoz Donald Panoz ( or ; February 13, 1935 – September 11, 2018) was an American entrepreneur who founded two pharmaceutical companies. Early life Panoz was an Italian-American. His father, Eugene Panunzio, immigrated to the United States from ...

cars. Amy continued to progress to more advanced levels of racing to enter

SCCA National Championship Runoffs The SCCA National Championship Runoffs is the end-of-year championship race meeting for Sports Car Club of America Club Racing competitors. Divisional champions and other top drivers from the SCCA's 116 regions are invited to participate at the ...

races with her father's Corvette in the GT-1 class. She qualified for the SCCA national run-offs nine times from 2003-2012 with a best finish of third in 2010. During this period she entered her first Trans-Am races with a total of three starts in 2005 and 2006 managing top-10 finishes on each of those occasions. The series was struggling financially at that juncture and went on hiatus in 2007 and 2008. Note that Trans-Am ran only two exhibition races in 2006, both at Topeka Heartland Raceway, where Ruman finished 4th and 5th.

Trans Am Series

Ruman Racing stepped up their involvement in Trans-Am with Amy upon the revitalization of the series in 2009. There were no Trans-Am races held during 2007 or 2008. Amy competed in five of the eight races in 2009 and secured 10th in the points championship. She improved to a fifth-place overall the following year after entering six of ten races. The 2011 season was a breakthrough year for Amy as she became the first woman driver to win a Trans-Am race with victory in the final round at

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

on September 30. RumanNOLA3

This success contributed to her continued improvement in the points championship as she finished third. Two more race wins followed in 2012 to help her earn the runner-up spot in the season championship. By this time she was entered in all Trans-Am races throughout the year. With no race wins in 2013, her championship placing slipped to fifth. In 2014 Ruman achieved a victory at the season finale at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

. This helped her secure third place in the championship. In 2015 Amy earned her distinction as the first female Trans-Am champion by winning eight of 12 races on the series schedule. In 2016, Ruman attained three race wins and multiple podium finishes during the season. This led her to her second consecutive championship title in Trans-Am’s 50th anniversary season.

Career Statistics

Awards

*Ruman was inducted into the

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

in 2025.

References

*''http://rumanracing.com/driver-bob-ruman/'', Background on Bob Ruman. *''https://www.scca.com/articles/2004548-ruman-repeats-as-trans-am-champion-with-daytona-victory'', Amy Ruman profile by SCCA. *''http://www.specracer.com/'', Spec Racer Ford background. *''https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/23/automobiles/a-series-of-their-own.html'', New York Times, April 23, 1999, Background on St. James-Panoz driving program. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruman, Amy 1974 births Living people Racing drivers from Ohio American female racing drivers Trans-Am Series drivers SCCA National Championship Runoffs participants 21st-century American women Sportspeople from Akron, Ohio