Houk Eager For New Rumble Chapter With Kenyon Bros.

Ayrton Houk (Jacob Seelman photo)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Few rides in national midget racing are as storied as the 3K Racing No. 6. Mel Kenyon made sure of that during his legendary hall-of-fame career.

More than 100 USAC feature wins, seven championships, and nearly 700 total top-10 finishes made Kenyon’s famed yellow mount perhaps the most historic car in the history of the discipline.

During the 26th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales, however, a new chapter in Kenyon’s team history will be authored, as 21-year-old Ayrton Houk steps into the iconic machine for the first time.

Houk is a native Hoosier who grew up in the shadows of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and knows full well what the “King of the Midgets” has meant to motorsports, but he appeared in awe when he rolled out for practice night Thursday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

The young star, who is working his way up the IndyCar ladder system and currently competing in the USF2000 Championship, hopes to pave his own way in his third Rumble in Fort Wayne appearance.

“This is my third car in three Rumbles; everyone has kept me hopping around and trying different things, but no matter who you are, if you know midget racing you know this car and the name Mel Kenyon,” said Houk, who earned the USSA Kenyon Midget Series championship in 2021.

“This car has won the Rumble before [with Kyle Hamilton in ***], but my hope is to be able to associate my name with it by running strong here this year,” Houk added. “It’s absolutely amazing to be under the [3K] umbrella with the Kenyon brothers, especially with all the history behind these cars and everything Mel and [brother] Don have done for the sport through the years.

“All we can do is our best, but I’m really optimistic and grateful for the opportunity.”

Ayrton Houk in action inside the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. (Jacob Seelman photo)

Houk had a comfortable practice day Thursday, posting the ninth-best single lap time at 7.933 seconds (75.633 mph) and ranking inside the top 12 in both sessions of hot laps at the sixth-mile, concrete-and-soda-syrup oval constructed on the polished floor of the mammoth Coliseum.

He believes that consistency is a sign of things to come as he chases his first national midget victory in one of the discipline’s most prestigious pavement events.

“The car feels really good; it might be the best car I’ve had here in the three years so far,” Houk noted. “The setup felt right on [point] and the power that we had in the motor was where we need it to be, I think, so that combined with the Kenyons wrenching on this piece should give us a really good shot at contending with the usual heavy hitters here.

“As the track rubbered in more and more, our one-lap speed fell down the order a bit, but overall I think our baseline pace is there and I’m really excited to see what we can do with it.”

Houk’s rookie campaign in USF2000 was a solid one, finishing 11th in points with DC Autosport, but he’ll return to the grid in 2025 with a new team in Benchmark Autosport and veteran engineer Don Conner.

First, however, comes another test at the Fort Wayne Rumble, something that is unlike anything else Houk does in the single-seater formula ranks all year long.

“It’s definitely very difficult,” said Houk of the process to reacclimate to the midgets. “The driving styles are complete opposites; in the open wheel stuff, we’re driving deep into the corners, smashing the brake as hard as we can and then getting back to full power … but that style of driving just won’t work in an oval car, let alone at the Rumble where you have so much grip but really tight, flat corners. I’ve found that it takes being smooth with your hands and smooth on the pedals to be successful here, and when you only have five or six laps of practice, there’s not a lot of time to get that process right.

“I think with the midget experience I’ve had over the past few years, it made things come back pretty quickly. It’s like riding a bike,” he added, “and after a couple of laps you can kind of feel things out and build on that throughout the event.”

Live coverage of every lap from the 26th Rumble in Fort Wayne can be viewed through Pit Row TV, part of the SPEED SPORT Network. Streaming begins at 11:15 a.m. ET both Friday and Saturday and continues through the last checkered flag.

In addition to the headlining national midget division, winged and non-winged 600cc micro sprints, as well as numerous classes of go-karts and quarter midgets, round out the two-day program.