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With Focus Back in SLM Racing, Ruston Ready to Conquer Five Flags at SERF, Inc. 125

Kenzie Ruston started off her 2016 season in the Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco with high expectations after returning to Super Late Models.

After a stint in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, she united with the Carswell Motorsports no. 98 team. Through the newly-minted team’s first three races, success was hard to come by. But business picked up when the month of May rolled around.

Ruston, the 24-year-old female driver who hails from El Reno, Okla., has recorded two top-five finishes in her last three races. Ruston’s recent uptick was highlighted with a season-best fourth earlier this month at South Alabama Speedway in Opp.

Ruston has been rejuvenated thanks to the strong finishes, and she eyes her first win of the year at the SERF, Inc. 125, on Friday night at Five Flags Speedway. The race is the third of four Deep South Crane Blizzard Series races, and run in conjunction with the Southern Super Series.

The Beef “O� Brady’s Pro Trucks, The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen and the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers all share the evening’s card. Gates open at 4 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, military and students; $5 for children ages 6 to 11; free for kids 5 and under.

 

“The last couple of weeks have been pretty good,� a relieved Ruston said. “We got off to a little rough start, but it’s just getting used to everybody, getting used to the car and all that. We had a good finish at Opp and we had a good finish at Cordele (Ga.). We were really excited for a fourth down there in Opp because at the beginning of the year we weren’t so hot down there.�

Driver and team have experienced some early growing pains, as Ruston gets comfortable in the No. 98, which has been the ride to talented drivers before Ruston hopped in. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Daniel Hemric, Ruston’s fiancé, and Ross Kenseth, son to Sprint Cup star Matt Kenseth, were behind the wheel last year.

 

“We needed to be up to speed a little bit faster, but that’s part of the learning curve,� Ruston said. “We had to change quite a few things around between Daniel and I. Our driving style is different. I feel like we got a pretty good handle on it now and that we’re getting right into the swing of things.�

Ruston’s other big adjustment this season has been familiarizing herself again with the SLM’s nuances after spending the past three years primarily driving the K&N Series.

She currently sits fourth in the Southern Super Series standings heading into Friday night, four points behind Chris Davidson for third with four races remaining.

 

“I feel like the team has gotten better and I feel like I’m getting a little better back in the Super (Late Model) after running the big heavy stock cars,� Ruston said. “It was kind of a bigger change than I thought (it would be) and I had to get used to a Super again. It was a little bit of a challenge for me, just learning how to have the car at the beginning of the race and how much it changes at the end of the race. Honestly, that’s the big thing I struggled with the first couple of races and now we’re gaining a lot of ground.�

Ruston couldn’t be more tickled to return to Pensacola’s high banks. After all, it was at the famed half-mile asphalt oval where Ruston and the No. 98 team found momentum back in May.

“I really like running at Pensacola; Daniel’s always run good at Pensacola, so I’m excited to get back down there,� she said. “The first time we ran there it was a bit of a struggle and then the second time we ran top-ten and it was a stacked field of 36 cars. It was crazy; just like a (Snowball) Derby show. Hopefully we can capitalize on that momentum going back there and run even better.�

For more information regarding the series, visit its website at southernsuperseries.com .

—Southern Super Series Press Release

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