Marking the second to last ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards event of the season, Venturini Motorsports returned to the track featuring a trio of rookie drivers Cole Rouse, Spencer Davis, and Natalie Decker in last Friday night’s General Tire Super Weekend Crosley Brands 150 at Kentucky Speedway.
Cole Rouse Finishes 11th in ARCA Debut at Kentucky
20-year old driver Cole Rouse made his highly anticipated, first career start in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards finishing 11th behind the wheel of his Venturini Motorsports (VMS) prepared No.15 Mussulman’s BIG CUP Apple Sauce Toyota.
Coming from the Super Late Model ranks, Rouse, a native of Fort Smith, Arkansas, showed speed in his first-ever series start by qualifying fourth for the 100-lap event at Kentucky Speedway.
Displaying his talent the ARCA newcomer raced inside the top-15 most of the night making his way up to the sixth position before the final restart coming on lap-97. Taking the final green flag with three-laps to go Rouse battled hard making a strong bid for a top-5 finish.
Caught in the middle of the lead pack for a furious fight for the top spot Rouse hung tight until his car was pushed up the track and out of the groove in turns three and four giving up several positions on the final lap. Scraping the wall but saving his car from near disaster, the rookie driver collected his composure finishing inside the top-15.
“That was a wild finish,” said Rouse. “We had good position on that final restart but got pushed up the track into the marbles entering (turn) three – I had my hands full and did everything I could do to save the car. It’s definitely not the finish I hoped for but I had a lot of fun and gained a ton of experience out there tonight. This was my first race on a mile and half race track – the experience was invaluable and gives me the confidence I need going into the next race at Kansas (Speedway).”
Rouse will have one more shot next month when he returns to the track with VMS for the ARCA Series finale on October 20 at Kansas Speedway.
Natalie Decker Finishes 12th at Kentucky Speedway
Eagle River, Wisconsin’s Natalie Decker returned to the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards for her sixth season start at Kentucky Speedway.
Decker, 20-years old, strapped into her No.55 N29 Capital Partners backed Toyota Camry looking to build on her previous series experience and finished 12th under the lights at Kentucky.
Qualifying 15th, the popular female driver drove a solid race earing her fifth top-15 finish of the season in six attempts. Missing out on ARCA’s open test session earlier in the week, Decker’s first look at Kentucky’s 1.5 mile surface came early Friday afternoon during the 90-minute practice session.
Sticking to her game plan, Decker continued to progress behind the wheel racing hard inside the top-15 throughout the night.
“We had a decent night,” said Decker. “I’m still learning a lot and making the transition in the series – these ARCA cars are so much fun to drive. Every time out I’m making gains. We showed some speed during practice and ended up with a solid finish. We’ll be back and ready to go at Kansas.”
As stated, Decker will be back behind the wheel for the ARCA Series finale at Kansas Speedway on October 20.
Disappointing 15th Place Finish for Spencer Davis at Kentucky
Driver Spencer Davis fought hard but could not catch a break finishing a disappointing 15th Friday night at Kentucky Speedway. Davis, driving his No.25 Street Toys Automotive and Truck Accessories Toyota Camry started mid-pack and was never able to get things going.
After spinning and making slight contact with the wall during the final moments of Wednesday’s test session Davis returned to the track Friday to find a vibration in his Toyota Camry causing the team to spend the majority of the afternoon looking for answers. Fighting an ill-handling car, Davis’ 25-team did everything they could to remedy the issue swapping out his transmission and motor prior to qualifying.
Davis started Friday’s 100-lap event from the 19th position. Davis would race his way up to the 13th spot but would give up positons after coming down pit road for a green flag stop just after the mid-way point in the race. Falling 6-laps down to the leaders, Davis was unable to recover settling for his disappointing 15th place finish.
“I just couldn’t catch a break tonight,” said Davis. “Despite my team’s hard work we struggled the entire day trying to fix the vibration and get the car right. We made some gains but in the end I just couldn’t get the car to turn in the corners and we gave up a bunch of speed. The only thing we can do now is put tonight behind us and get ready for Kansas.”
Davis will return to VMS’s driver lineup with Cole Rouse and Natalie Decker for the ARCA Racing Series season finale on October 20 at Kansas Speedway.
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