Ruth Wolf
SCCA Nationals Driver
 
Ruth Wolf is an artist and her first rule for being an
artist is: don't give up the day job. It was this rule that got her into
racing and the car business. She needed a job to support her art studio after
college so she began working in an Alfa Romeo dealership.
We declare that
the splendor of the world has been enriched with a new form of beauty, the
beauty of speed. A race -automobile adorned with great pipes like serpents
with explosive breath...a race-automobile which seems to rush over exploding
powder is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.
- F.T. Martinetti
- Futurist Manifesto 1908 |
Ruth grew up thinking a car was an appliance.
It was through appreciation of art, through discovering and studying the
beauty of sports cars, that she recognized the aesthetics behind the object.
When the desire to possess that particular aesthetic object became a passion,
she went racing.
Eventually, she became a partner in Nick Falcone Enterprises, LLC, a foreign
sports car repair facility in Bala-Cynwyd, PA. Falcone was a Fiat and Alfa
Romeo dealership before these cars were pulled out of the US market, and
servicing exotic cars is still a large part of their business.
Ruth's first race driving experience was at drivers school in a not-too-developed
Alfa Giulia spider. She eventually worked to make it a good SCCA Regional
ride and in 1987 won the DC Regional Series Championship in FP.
The limitations of the Alfa presented themselves when she started to run
SCCA Nationals, so she developed a Fiat X1/9 into a racing machine. Ruth
reports that the Fiat was a joy to drive.
In 1994, she went to the SCCA RunOffs at Mid Ohio. Unfortunately a broken
motor mount sidelined the car three quarters through the race. This was the
only mechanical breakdown the car experienced all season. She finished the
season with second place in the Northeast Division NESCCA Series in FP.
The next year, she switched from production-based
sports cars to formula racing with a Swift DB2, powered by the Olds Quad
4, in C Sports Racer. 1995 was a year of testing and limited competition.
In 1996, she ran SCCA Nationals in the Northeast Division and won the series
Championship in CSR.
Ruth spends her days talking to people interested in their cars and in the
sport of auto racing. They want to know how they can get the best performance
out of their cars whether it is their daily driver or their favorite machine
stashed away for that special ride.
One of her biggest kicks is seeing enthusiasts respond to the discovery of
what their car is capable of doing. Most of the time they walk into her shop
thinking they will need to spend a lot of money to buy improvements. They
learn that with a few considered alignment adjustments and good tires, their
car's handling is greatly improved, and they are able to use more of the
available power in the motor because the car is not darting around.
| "How can I get
involved..." |
Big smiles. "How can I get involved in motor sports?"
When they ask that, Ruth presents a number of choices, from regional SCCA
Solo II programs, to BMW Club schools, to the local raceway's weekend events,
to licensing as a race worker (flagging, timing, pit and paddock). She outlines
attainable goals. Enthusiasts decide how far they want to go in terms of
dollars and commitment.
As part of her involvement in racing, Ruth has served on the SCCA Philadelphia
Region's Board of Directors since 1993. She was Regional Executive in 1996
and 1997. She has also taught at the SCCA drivers school for the past 10
years.
Ruth drives race cars. She builds and repairs race cars. She talks about
race cars and racing, and works to get others involved.
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