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Rookie Ruston Returns to ‘Familiar’ Five Flags Focused on First K&N Series Win

By Chuck Corder

Kenzie Ruston was born in 1991.

That’s barely three Presidents ago. Dale Earnhardt was well into his iconic career, working on the fifth of his seven Winston Cup championships.

In other sports, the 21-year-old NASCAR K&N Pro Series East driver would still be a young pup, her best years lots of laps ahead of her.

But, with acne-clad teenagers popping up everywhere along K&N and late model pit rows these days, short-track racing is increasingly getting younger and younger.

“People always ask me, ‘Do you think you’re too old to be racing?’ I say thanks a lot,� Ruston joked. “I’m starting to get old. I’m out there racing 15- and 16-year-olds — some places younger. I’m out to prove something this year.�

An already accomplished driver, Ruston’s rookie season in the K&N brings her back to Five Flags Speedway with the NAPA Auto Parts 150 on Saturday night.

Ruston has raced both Super and Pro Late Models at the famed, half-mile asphalt oval numerous times in recent years, including appearances in both the Snowball Derby and Snowflake 100.

The El Reno, Okla., native is chomping at the bit for her Turner Scott Motorsports No. 34 to be a part of another chapter of racing history at America’s Favorite Home Track.

“I’m excited to get back to a place I’m familiar with,� Ruston said. “Pensacola is one of those places I truly love.�

On Friday night, the Super Stocks (35 laps), Sportsmen (30) and Bombers (25) kick off a gigantic, doubleheader weekend.

The gates open at 5 p.m. Friday and admission is as follows: $10 adults; $8 seniors, military, students; $5 kids ages 6-11; free 5-under.

The festivities for Saturday get started early when the gates open at 10 a.m. for morning practices. The K&N field of approximately 30 cars will begin qualifying at 5 p.m.

Admission to the NAPA 150 is $30 for adults, seniors, military and students, just $10 for children 6-11 and once again free for kids 5 and under.

It’s the inaugural stop at Pensacola’s high banks for the K&N Pro Series, which features many developmental drivers who are gripping the wheel tight for their shot at NASCAR stardom once they turn 18.

Alumni include Sprint Cup Series drivers Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon and Trevor Bayne.

Ruston, who became the first female to win an ARCA/CRA two years ago, made K&N Pro Series East history last week in Greenville, S.C., when she became the highest-finishing female.

Her third was three spots higher than Danica Patrick’s sixth-place finish in 2010 at Dover.

“I was surprised a little bit,� said Ruston, who finished 11th at famed Bristol, Tenn., in her only other K&N race last month.

“I knew by the end of the year we’d start competing for rookie of the year honors. I didn’t think right off the bat we’d be there, just two races in.�

Yet there she was, on the podium, and now third overall, just nine points shy of leader Brett Moffitt.

Moffitt, slated for Saturday’s field, owns the only two top-five finishes of the 44 drivers that have taken green flags in K&N East races this year.

Others to watch include Dylan Kwasniewski, three points ahead of Ruston; Brandon McReynolds, who raced the Snowflake last December and is the son of former NASCAR crew chief and Fox analyst Larry McReynolds; and Ben Kennedy, a descendant of NASCAR’s first family who has also logged a lot of laps at Five Flags.

And then there’s Ruston, who hopes her experience in Pensacola will give her a clear path to the front come Saturday night.

“The whole team is excited to go to Pensacola because they know I’ve been there,� she said. “We’re going there with the win in our minds. That’s what you go to the track for every week. It’s definitely what we’re striving for.�

When it comes to winning, age is just a number to Kenzie Ruston.

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