Racine’s Jacob Ruud Brings Perfect Season To Home Track Road America

● Olivia Askew, John Hennessy join Ruud in Fast Track Racing TCX Lineup

ELKHART LAKE, WI (Aug. 24, 2021) – It’s been a perfect season so far for young Jacob Ruud of Racine, WI, during the debut of the TCX racing division in the TC America competition, a portion of the big SRO America road racing weekends.

Driving the No. 81 Light Speed/Classic BMW BMW M2 for Fast Track Racing this year, Ruud, the 21-year-old college student, has won six main events in six starts in the TCX division including six pole positions and five fastest race laps.

Now, Ruud returns to his home track, historic Road America, on Aug. 27-29 looking to extend his winning streak in the SRO America doubleheader sports car weekend. Joining Rudd in the Fast Track Racing/Classic BMW lineup this weekend at Road America will young Olivia Askew and newcomer John Hennessy in BMW M2 sports cars.

The senior at Rochester Institute of Technology in update New York is very familiar with the four-mile Elkhart Lake racing facility as he was an infant running around the paddock with his dad, Chris, racing in the Ferrari Challenge and his mom, Chantil, chasing him down.

At age 16, Jacob was able to make his Road America debut in a club racing event and his career as competitor took off.

“I have a lot of laps around Road America between testing and racing,” said Ruud. “We tested last week, and we learned a lot with the car. It’s an all-new BMW race car and the Fast Track Racing team has been learning along with me. We have won this year at Sonoma, COTA (Circuit of the Americas in Texas) and VIR (VIRginia International Raceway). But to be honest, those tracks are much different than Elkhart Lake. So, we need to improve a few chassis settings for the upcoming events.”

Ruud led wire-to-wire most recently in the two TCX feature races (40-minute sprints) at VIR and holds a big advantage in the TCX class point standings.

“Again, the Fast Track Racing crew gave me a fantastic BMW M2 to drive at the VIR weekend,” said Ruud after his Sunday win. “The VIR track was fast and so much fun to drive, especially with these BMW M2 cars. Now, we want to continue our winningest streak at Road America in front of a bunch of family and friends.”

Ruud started his college classes this week and will be anxious to finish up activities before heading back to Wisconsin for the on-track action which gets under Friday with practice rounds.

“It will be a little hectic with classes in New York and flying back home for the Road America,” he explained. “But it’s a blast to race at Elkhart Lake again.”

Askew, a young Utah alpine skiing star in addition to her motorsports activities, comes to Road America after debuting in the No. 3 DXDT/Fast Track Racing BMW M2 at VIRginia International Raceway in June with fourth and sixth place finishes.

Hennessy, the successful businessman from Bellevue, WA, returns to the TC America tour after a few months away in the No. 50 Fast Track Racing BMW M2 machine. In his TCX debut at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), Hennessy scored third and fourth places for Fast Track Racing.

Ruud, Askew, Hennessy and their Fast Track Racing squad will be in TCX action at Road America starting with practice on Friday, Aug. 27. Qualifying is scheduled on Saturday, Aug. 28, at 9:10 a.m. CDT with Race 1 (40-minute sprint) set for Saturday at 5:10 p.m. CDT. The second 40-minute race will take place at 12:05 p.m. CDT on Sunday, Aug. 29.

RacingNation Crew

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