Seventeen-year-old Kenzie Ruston has turned many heads in the Legends Car world during the past few months. With dozens of victories, including a five-race sweep of the Battle in the Bayou Semi-Pro class races at Monroe International Speedway in Louisiana in late May and early June, Ruston has emerged as one of the top talents in the country, male or female.

That recent hot streak has caught the eye of many racing insiders, including NASCAR on SPEED broadcaster Bob Dillner and his BDI Racing development team, which has signed Ruston for the young racer's bid for the Legends Car Semi-Pro Championship in the 10-race 2009 Summer Shootout Series at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

“I'm looking forward to working with Bob and BDI Racing with the Summer Shootout and hopefully more down the road,” said Ruston. “I think it will provide me with a plenty of exposure and a great learning experience. They work with a lot of great companies, like Chevrolet, so I am hoping I can make them all proud. I want some more big-car experience and I hope to get the chance to test a Late Model with BDI Racing – they have a great program.”

“Kenzie is a racer,” said Dillner. “When you approach her at the track you can see the dedication

and determination in her eyes and that's something a lot of young racers don't have. Kenzie is serious about her racing; she has the looks and the drive to advance up the racing ladder and hopefully BDI Racing can be a part of that.”

Ruston's skills have been showcased beyond her recent success in Louisiana. The young Oklahoman has notched several victories at Texas Motor Speedway already in 2009 and currently leads the Lone Star Legends Semi-Pro standings by a wide margin. In addition to her Legends Car prowess, Ruston has been gaining even more experience, on dirt, in a high-powered Mini Sprint at tracks throughout the Midwest and South.

All that experience Ruston is gaining in 2009 has paid off with early success, but also has allowed her to set lofty goals for her Summer Shootout and overall racing seasons.

“My goal for the Summer Shootout is to at least win one race, but I hope to win even more than that,” she said. “I know my car, which is set up by Dan Snyder, is fast and that we can go out there and beat them with a little luck. The Summer Shootout is the toughest Legends field in all of the country. For all 10 weeks, I hope to at least finish in the top-five. All season so far we've been competitive everywhere we've gone, so hopefully we can keep that up.

“In addition to the Shootout, we'll be running Texas every other week when they run,” added Ruston. “We're going to try to catch a couple big shows this year, too. We're going to Lanier because Nationals are there this year and I really want to win the National Championship in Semi-Pro. No other girl has ever won a National Championship in Legends Cars and I'd love to be the first.”

Ruston got her 2009 Summer Shootout plans off to a solid start by meeting her main goals with a fourth-place finish in the first round of the 10-week series on Tuesday, June 9th. Ruston finished second in her heat, setting up a third-place starting spot in the main event, but an early spin forced her to make a rally in the late stages of the race to score a fourth-place finish.

“In the heat race, we got spun out on the second lap and had to go to the back. But, I was able to come back and finish second in the heat, so I started third in the feature. I was running well. Bolen (Jeff) and I left everybody. We raced right after the school bus race, so the track had oil all over it and I got into the corner a little too hot one time and spun out while running second. I dropped back to about 18 th after that.

“We had a caution after that and I took the outside on a choose restart and worked back up to fourth at the end. I was surprised to get back up that far. All I was shooting for here in the first week was a top-five and I was really happy to get it. Once you have to go to the back, you just want to get the car back into the trailer in one piece, so a top-five run to start off is really good.”

Ruston followed up her top-five run in the opening round of the Summer Shootout with another solid seventh-place run in round two on Tuesday, June 16 th .

Ruston will run under the BDI Racing development banner throughout the 2009 Summer Shootout and will be a BDI Racing teammate to 13-year-old Kyle Plott, who competes in the Young Lions class.

Based in Concord, North Carolina, BDI Racing is a full-service short track development team that offers a “total package” approach to building strong racers both on the track and off. BDI Racing has a full fleet of cars from Quarter Midgets, Bandoleros, Legends Cars, Pro Challenge Series cars and Super Late Models. Several house drivers including Michael Pope and Meghan Dillner make up the core of the BDI Racing development program, but opportunities are available in all facets of BDI Racing's organization for the entire 2009 season.

Marketing opportunities for the BDI Racing development team are still available for events throughout the 2009 season. For more information on how a marketing plan with BDI Racing can be beneficial for businesses or organizations of all sizes, contact Matt Kentfield, BDI Racing Director of Racing Operations, at (704) 788-2134 ext: 2 or email matt@bdiracing.net.