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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">TRANS AM</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">11/07/2004</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">Diaz, Jr. Scores First Motorock Trans-am Victory </FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">Corvette Drivers Ruhlman And Fellows Second And Third</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2"><B>Jorge Diaz, Jr. Scores First Motorock Trans-am Victory </B><BR> <BR> <B>Corvette Drivers Ruhlman And Fellows Second And Third</B> <BR> <BR> Jorge Diaz, Jr. predicted at the beginning of the 2004 Motorock Trans-Am Series season that he would win a race before the end of the year. His prediction came true Saturday as the young Puerto Rican driver won the Trans-Am in T.O., part of the Molson Indy Toronto weekend. The 2003 Trans-Am Rookie of the Year, driving the No. 8 Puerto Rico Grand Prix Jaguar XKR, took the lead from Paul Gentilozzi on lap 30 when Gentilozzi spun, and he never looked back, beating second-place finisher Randy Ruhlman (No. 49 Preformed Line Products Canada/Coyote Closures Chevrolet Corvette) by 6.307 seconds.<BR> <BR> Local driver Ron Fellows, in his return to Trans-Am competition after a six-year hiatus, finished third in the No. 40 Molson Indy Chevrolet Corvette after leading the first two laps. Fellows scored his 41st career Trans-Am podium. Gentilozzi, who set a record fast race lap (1:12.149) was fourth in a Jaguar XKR. Tomy Drissi was fifth, also in a Jaguar.<BR> <BR> “This is the biggest accomplishment in my racing career,” said Diaz, who with the win, closed the gap in the point’s race. Diaz now sits just two points behind championship leader Gentilozzi.. “I just followed Paul (Gentilozzi) until I got the right opportunity. I didn’t really relax until the end of the race. We made a pretty big gamble coming into today. We made four changes this morning. My team and my crew chief Millo Martinez worked really hard and it paid off for us today.<BR> <BR> “We are dedicating this season to my sister, Monique, who recently survived cancer,” added Diaz. “I’m so proud to bring this first-place trophy back to Puerto Rico for her.”<BR> <BR> Ruhlman earned his second podium this season and third-straight top-five finish.<BR> <BR> “We learned a lot this season,” said Ruhlman, who moves to third in the title chase, 16 points out of the lead. “We run every week and we just keep trying. We tried something different this morning and it didn’t work. So, we tried something different. (team owner) Jim Derhaag and the guys really worked hard, and we got some input from Ron (Fellows) which was helpful. The whole program is coming along. We’re just really pleased to be up here.”<BR> <BR> Fellows earned the Canadian Cup for being the highest-finishing Canadian driver in the field. The Trans-Am Series will award the Canadian Cup at each Canadian event this season.<BR> <BR> “It was really great to be out running again,” said Fellows. “I really have to thank the people at Molson and (team owner) Jim Derhaag for allowing this to happen. This deal came together on Wednesday afternoon, so Jim’s guys had to work really hard to put this together. I want to thank them for their efforts.<BR> <BR> “We struggled a little bit, losing second gear early,” added Fellows. “We were three speeding it. Second gear is kind of important here. We had a decent car. I think we’ll be a lot better prepared at the next race in Trois-Rivières.”<BR> <BR> Tommy Kendall took the lead from Fellows on lap three, but fell out with mechanical problems on lap 20, handing the lead to Gentilozzi, who started last due to his changing tires after qualifying.<BR> <BR> Diaz earned the VP Racing Fuels Hard Charger Award for making up the most positions during the race as well as the BFGoodrich Tires Take Control Award for leading the most laps.<BR> <BR> <B>Race Results</B><BR> <BR> 1. (3) Jorge Diaz, Jr., Jaguar XKR, 49, running.<BR> 2. (4) Randy Ruhlman, Chevrolet Corvette, 49, running..<BR> 3. (2) Ron Fellows, Chevrolet Corvette, 49, running.<BR> 4. (11) Paul Gentilozzi, Jaguar XKR, 49, running.<BR> 5. (5) Tomy Drissi, Jaguar XKR, 49, running.<BR> 6. (7) John Baucom, Ford Mustang, 49, running.<BR> 7. (6) Joey Scarallo, Chevrolet Corvette, 48, running.<BR> 8. (8) Charles Webster, Chevrolet Corvette, 47, running.<BR> 9. (10) Garrett Kletjian, Qvale Mangusta, 45, running.<BR> 10. (1) Tommy Kendall, Jaguar XKR, 25, mechanical.<BR> 11. (9) Blaise Csida, Chevrolet Camaro, 2, mechanical.<BR> <BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>