Ruston Riding a wave of momentum headed to langley speedway

Hampton, VA, June 17, 2014 – After two solid top-10 finishes, a top-5 effort with her fourth place run last Friday night in Pensacola, Kenzie Ruston rolls into Langley Speedway with momentum on her side. “We had to shake the bad luck,” said Ruston. “We’ve had the speed almost everywhere this year, just bad luck has been right there to mess up our good runs.”

Early race misfortune almost spoiled Ruston’s first top-5 finish of the season last week when she had a flat tire on Lap 32. Ruston went a lap down as the caution came out, but the caution provided an opportune time for the team to change the tire and keep Ruston in the race. Through the free pass, and a lot of hard racing, Ruston battled back to a fourth place finish.

“In racing you need to have luck,” said Crew Chief Mike Fritts. “We have had our fair share of bad luck this year, but hopefully we have it behind us, and we can keep giving Kenzie fast cars and she will get the results.” Fritts felt the team had the best car of the season at Langley Speedway. Through a little misfortune the team was unable to capitalize with a victory, something Fritts feels will change this year.

“We had a bad situation with a lap car last year, that kept us from winning,” said Fritts. “Langley is a place where the grove is always changing. A driver has to figure out what line they want to run, and then dial the car in from there. Kenzie gives us great feedback on what she’s feeling so we should be able to get the car fast for the race.”

“Langley is a no break race,” said Ruston. “Having the car dialed in before you start is important, then it’s about taking care of your equipment, and being in a position to battle for the win at the end. I think with Mike’s [Fritts} ability to get cars dialed in for what I need, we should be in really good shape.”

Kenzie Ruston comes into the event in tenth place in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Standings, with four top-10 finishes and a top-5 finish last week in Pensacola. Ruston hopes the momentum of two solid runs will catapult her team back into contention with the top five in points at the halfway point in the season.

“If we can run the second half of the season like the last couple of weeks and the way we started the season, we will be in great shape,” said Ruston. The Visit Hampton 175 will be run at Langley Speedway, Saturday, June 21 at 8:00 PM. The race will air on Fox Sports 1 on Friday, June 27 at noon eastern.