Photo – Courtesy of KBM
Racing his rookie season in the full NASCAR K&N Pro Series West schedule last year, Cole Rouse posted four top-five and 12 top-ten finishes with an average finish of 7.6 over 14 events. His racing career started at the age of 14, competing in mini-cup cars before advancing to Late Model competition in 2013. Rouse led a race high 145 laps of the American 400 at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville in 2015, before finishing fifth after a shock broke late in the race.
Kyle Busch found himself impressed enough with Rouse that he announced Wednesday the 19 year-old Rouse will compete in a 15-race schedule with Kyle Busch Motorsports in the team’s No. 51 Super Late Model in 2017. The full CARS Super Late Model Tour is also on Rouse’s schedule beginning March 11th at Concord Speedway in North Carolina as well as three ARCA/CRA Super Series events including the North South Super Late Model Challenge on April 7th and 8th at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, TN; the World Stock Car Festival September 4th at Winchester Speedway in Indiana and again at Winchester on October 8th for the Winchester 400.
“As a young driver looking to make a name for himself in the racing world there isn’t a better opportunity out there than to be driving the No. 51 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Super Late Model program,” Rouse said. “You get a great mentor in Kyle, you’re driving for a top-tier team that has proven capable of winning each time it hits the track and since KBM has a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series program, there is an opportunity to advance to the next level if you’re successful. I’ve been training hard every day, both mentally and physically, to make sure that I do my part to carry on the winning tradition at KBM.”