Author: Kenzie Ruston PR

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Solid Ninth Place Finish for Ruston at Berlin

Mooresville, NC (May 14th, 2012)

20-year-old Kenzie Ruston rolled into Berlin Raceway (MI) with high hopes of competing for a top-10 finish and building momentum in the series points and that’s exactly what she did.

The Berlin 125 was setting up to be the largest race of the season as over 40 cars were entered for the Saturday Night Showdown. Drivers from across the United States had arrived to show their hand against the nation’s best super late model series competitors.

The event didn’t start off exactly like the team had hoped for with transmission problems before practice causing the team to go to a backup car immediately.

“We brought our crate motor car and before we even got on the race track with it the transmission broke. At Berlin you need a crate motor to keep from burning the tires up and it was very unfortunate that we needed our backup car which is a big motor car.” stated Ruston.

Once the MelMark Pipe & Supply team got the backup ready for practice, Ruston quickly put her name in the top 10 on the speed charts and proved that nothing would hold this team back from a solid performance this weekend.

Ruston would qualify her No.39 in the 16th position and was ready for battle against the ARCA/CRA regular’s mixed with the Berlin Posse.

“The local drivers here are the toughest locals I’ve ever raced against.” says Ruston. “These guys are fast and proved that in qualifying when at least 10 of the top 15 qualifiers were local competitors.”

Once the green flag dropped Ruston used the bottom grove to quickly pick up a few spots and by halfway had worked her way to the 11th position and challenging for a top-10. The race would have a long green flag run in which the built motor would start to cripple the No.39 machine but Ruston fought hard to maintain her position.

“The long green flag run hurt us as we lost several spots to the crate motors but I held on and once the caution came back out my tires cooled down and we were ready to get those spots back.”

By lap 100, Ruston had worked her way into the 8th position and was battling hard to pick up a few more spots. With just a few laps remaining in the race she feel back to the 9th place spot and held on till the finish.

“I’m very proud of my guys for never giving up. We ended up with a knife in a gun fight but continued to battle every lap and it shows exactly how strong our team is. I am thrilled with a 9th place finish after running 6th at Toledo and wrecking out. It’s an improvement and a great point’s day for our team.”

With this finish Ruston looks to have moved into the top-5 in ARCA/CRA Super Series points standings.

For more information on Kenzie Ruston please visit GoKenzie.com or follow her on twitter at @KenzieRuston. For information on ARCA/CRA Super Series visit CRARacing.net.

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Bad Luck Strikes Kenzie Ruston at Toledo.

Mooresville, NC (April 30th, 2012)
After qualifying 13th for the 7-UP 100, Kenzie Ruston worked her way up to the 6th position before getting involved in a wreck that would end her day and result in a 19th place finish. More to come

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Ruston Ready To Tackle Toledo With MelMark Pipe and Supply.

Mooresville, NC (April 26th, 2012)

Kenzie Ruston is set to tackle the fast half mile of Toledo Speedway (OH) with her MelMark Pipe & Supply No.39 when the ARCA/CRA Super Series comes to town on April 29th. The 20-year-old Oklahoma native is no stranger to Toledo as she competed in her very first ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards race on the famed Ohio track just under a year ago.

In her first race at Toledo, Kenzie was the fastest overall in practice and went on to become the first female in ARCA history to lead laps and finish inside the top-10 in her series debut.

“I love Toledo” said the excited young driver. “It’s fast and that’s my kind of racetrack. This was one of the tracks on the schedule that played a key role in our decision to run for the ARCA/CRA Super Series title this year.”

Ruston will return to Toledo with a familiar name on the hood of her racecar as MelMark Pipe & Supply has returned to the Kenzie Ruston Race team for the entire 2012 season.

“We are thrilled to have Mark and Melisa Lowe with MelMark back with us this year. Their sponsorship really kicked off last year at Toledo and we are pumped to have them back on board with us for the 2012 season and hopefully this time at Toledo we bring home a solid performance.”

On track action will kick off Saturday April 27th with all day practice leading up to the drop of the green flag on Sunday April 28th for the 7-UP 100. You can follow all of the racing action on Speed51.com or on twitter @KenzieRuston. For more information about MelMark Pipe & Supply you can visit MelMarkPipe.com. For more information on Kenzie Ruston please visit GoKenzie.com

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Kenzie Ruston Makes a Dream Come True at Anderson Speedway

Mooresville, NC (April 17th, 2012)

For the first time in twenty-year-old Kenzie Ruston’s racing career she was faced with the opportunity to make a dream come true for a very special little girl and that’s exactly what she did.

Teressa Harp is a twelve-year-old little girl from Oklahoma that is fighting her second round of Rhabdomyosarcoma, which is a cancerous tumor of the muscles that are attached to the bones. Teressa was first diagnosed in September 2010 and after a year of grueling chemo, radiation, and brain surgery, the cancer has returned and the survival rate is now next to zero.

Once Ruston found out about Teressa’s wish to watch her race, the Team-along with the help of Cruise 4 Cancer Foundation and the staff at Anderson Speedway (IN)-began to put the plan together to put a smile on this little courageous girl's face.

“We knew right away that we needed to put something together that would allow Teressa to come to Anderson to watch my first race of the season.” said Ruston. “With the help of Theresa Coffman and Rita Presley with Cruise 4 Cancer, and Rick Dawson and his great staff at Anderson Speedway, we were able to make the weekend an unforgettable experience for her and her family.”

Teressa, her sister and grandmother got a once in a lifetime experience this weekend in Anderson, Indiana. It all started with a private ride from the airport to their Holiday Inn hotel where she got to meet Kenzie and her team and share some smiles and laughs.

“Teressa’s courage and strength is such an inspiration to me and my team. The smile on her face this whole weekend was priceless and I am very happy that we were able to provide her with that.”

Teressa was then treated to a meal at Montana Mike's Steakhouse and Culver’s Eatery complements of the Anderson Speedway staff and the restaurant managers before heading to get her pedicure and manicure in Kenzie blue.

As if the trip wasn’t great enough, the twelve-year-old got to experience life in the fast lane at the beautiful Anderson Speedway. First, race track president, Rick Dawson, introduced Teressa as the official grand marshal for the event before handing her an autographed checkered flag that was signed by every driver in attendance. She was treated like a VIP on race day and also gave the command for the drivers to fire their engines.

“Hearing Teressa’s voice say 'fire your engines' was pure motivation for myself,” stated Ruston. “We didn’t qualify as good as we would of liked to, but thinking of her smile and the situation she is faced with reminded me that no matter where I started for the race, I was still able to live my dream and that together everyone made this little girl have a smile on her face that isn’t going away anytime soon.”

Once the green flag dropped for the feature event Kenzie managed to miss several wrecks and work her way past 14 cars to finish 11th in the season opener. Although the driver and team would have liked to have brought home a better finish, the mood quickly changed as Teressa was the first one to tell Kenzie that she was proud of her efforts and she did a great job.

“We had a solid finish, would have liked to finish inside the top 10, but looking at the big picture our team is happy with the result but most importantly our lives were touched today and that’s what really matters. Teressa gives us all hope, faith, and courage and with her on our team we can accomplish anything and even on the bad days we will think about her fight and how she has stayed strong through it all.”

For more information on Teressa Harp please contact Cruise 4 Cancer on Facebook or (405) 905-WISH. For more information on Kenzie Ruston please visit GoKenzie.com

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Kenzie Ruston Battles to Finish 11th at Anderson

Mooresville, NC (April 16th, 2012)

Anderson Speedway (IN) would play host to the 2012 ARCA/CRA Super Series season opener and after a rainy Saturday afternoon the race would be rescheduled for Sunday April 15th, 2012.

With her sights on making a championship run, Kenzie Ruston was ready to tackle the high banks of Anderson during the Great Deal 125.

“Anderson is such a neat race track. It’s small, but fast which makes for some exciting racing for the fans and intense battles between the competitors.” said Ruston

Qualifying wasn’t exactly what the 20-year-old Oklahoma native was looking for as she would qualify her No.39 Mitch Smith Auto Service / MelMark Pipe & Supply Toyota in the 25th position for the 125 lap feature.

“The team worked extremely hard this weekend to get the car right and during qualifying the car pushed in the corner a little and I didn’t get the lap I was hoping for but we feel confident in our car for the race.” said Ruston after her qualifying effort.

Once the green flag dropped, Ruston quickly settled into a nice pace and showed her patience through several cautions and red flags.

“On this tight of a race track there is always a lot of beating and banging and today was no different. From the start a lot of drivers were impatient and that lead to multiple cautions and torn up racecars. I kept the nose clean and just remembered that we needed a solid finish to start our season off right.”

Around lap 70 the race started to settle down and Ruston found herself inside the top 10 with the lead pack in sight before a lap 99 spin that would put her back into the 15th position.

“I was trying to pass for 8th position and got my left side tires on the apron and that resulted in spinning out. Luckily we had no damage and were able to continue.”

With a little under 25 laps remaining Ruston began putting pressure on the top 10 once more but would run out of time before the completion of the race and result in a 11th place finish.

“We survived and that was the most important part. The fenders are on the car and to pick up 14 positions during the race was huge. I’m very proud of my guys and all of their hard work. They never gave up and we ended the weekend with a great finish and a solid point’s day.”

Kenzie Ruston’s next race will be the ARCA/CRA Super Series 7-UP 100 in 2 weeks at the fast half mile of Toledo Speedway (OH). For more information on Kenzie please visit gokenzie.com or follow her on twitter @kenzieruston.