Ben Rhodes (racing driver)

Ben Rhodes
Rhodes after winning his first pole position at Road America, 2015
Born Benjamin Rhodes
(1997-02-21) February 21, 1997
Louisville, Kentucky
Achievements 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro East Series Champion
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
10 races run over 1 year
2015 position 28th
Best finish 28th (2015)
First race 2015 3M 250 (Iowa)
Last race 2015 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 2 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
69 races run over 4 years
Truck no., team No. 41 (ThorSport Racing)
2017 position 5th
Best finish 5th (2017)
First race 2014 Kroger 250 (Martinsville)
Last race 2018 Fr8Auctions 250 (Talladega)
First win 2017 Las Vegas 350 (Las Vegas)
Last win 2018 Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 (Kentucky)
Wins Top tens Poles
2 30 5
Statistics current as of October 13, 2018.

Benjamin "Ben" Rhodes (born February 21, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 41 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing. Rhodes won the 2014 K&N Pro Series East Championship with Turner Scott Motorsports.

Racing career

Early years

Rhodes began his career in 2004 when he was seven years old, starting in Kart racing, winning several champion titles before moving to Bandoleros in 2008, and Legends cars in 2010, then moving up to late model stock cars beginning in 2011.[1][2]

After earning a several wins, in 2012 he signed with then-Sprint Cup Series driver Marcos Ambrose to begin racing Late Model cars in the UARA-STARS Series under the Marcos Ambrose Motorsports banner.[3][4] After the 2012 season, Rhodes signed a deal with Turner Scott Motorsports to begin racing part-time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2013.[5] Rhodes scored five top five finishes in seven starts.[3] In June of that year, Rhodes was named to the NASCAR Next roster, composed of up-and-coming drivers expected to become the next group of stars in NASCAR competition.[6]

K&N Pro Series East

Rhodes would move full-time in the K&N East Series for 2014, with former driver Mark McFarland as his crew chief.[3] In mid-March 2014, it was announced Rhodes would make his Camping World Truck Series debut at Martinsville in the Kroger 250 for TSM, and drive in three additional Truck series races that season.[7] He earned three top tens, including an 8th-place finish in his debut, in four Truck Series races.[2] Rhodes would also make his ARCA Racing Series debut at his home track Kentucky Speedway, starting fifth but finishing 27th after a crash.[3] Rhodes would claim TSM's second consecutive K&N Pro Series East Championship through five wins, 11 top five finishes, and six poles. Rhodes would also tie a series record set by Ricky Craven in 1991 by winning four consecutive races (Iowa, Bowman Gray, Five Flags, Langley Speedway) between May and June.[3]

Rhodes turning left in Turn 6 after winning his first pole position at Road America in 2015

Xfinity Series

In December 2014, it was announced that Rhodes would move up to NASCAR's second-tier national series the Xfinity Series (formerly Busch and Nationwide) with JR Motorsports for 10 races in the 2015 season, sharing the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro with Sprint Cup Series drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Kasey Kahne. Rhodes made his debut with the team at Iowa Speedway on May 16, finishing seventh.[8][2][9] Rhodes had the fastest time in the first practice at Road America in August 2015 and he was awarded the pole position after qualifying rained out. On October 20, Rhodes announced that he had left JRM, intending to run a full-time Xfinity schedule in 2016.[10]

Camping World Truck Series

On December 15, 2015, Rhodes joined ThorSport Racing to run full-time in the Truck Series in 2016, driving the No. 41 Toyota Tundra.[11] Rhodes started the season with a 7th-place finish at Daytona. Rhodes and Johnny Sauter were in contention for the win at Kansas but both crashed in the final lap, allowing William Byron to secure the first win of his career.[12] Rhodes missed the inaugural truck series Chase and finished 14th in series points.[13] On January 31, 2017, Rhodes announced his return to ThorSport for the 2017 season with new crew chief Eddie Troconis and renumbered No. 27 Tundra.[14] Rhodes came close to victory at Kansas when, after passing Kyle Busch late in the race, his engine expired with 10 laps to go. On September 15, Rhodes secured a spot in the 2017 truck series playoffs.[15] On September 30, Rhodes held off eventual champion Christopher Bell to win his first truck series race at the Las Vegas 350.[16] For 2018 Rhodes returned to the 41 truck, now a Ford F150, with Troconis returning as crew chief. After many engine troubles plaguing him in 2018 he won his second career race at Kentucky Motor Speedway after dominating the race and holding off a hard charging Stewart Friesen.[17]

Personal life

Rhodes is the son of Lori and Joe Rhodes. His father is the president of Kentucky-based mechanical service contractor Alpha Energy Solutions which has sponsored Ben's racing efforts.[18]

Rhodes graduated from Holy Cross High School in Louisville, Kentucky in 2015, finishing with a 3.98 GPA despite missing classes due to his racing career. He missed the school's graduation ceremony on May 15 because he was in Iowa to prepare for his Xfinity Series debut the next day; the school's president traveled to the race to present Rhodes with his diploma during driver introductions.[8]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NXSC Pts
2015 JR Motorsports 88 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL IOW
7		 CLT DOV MCH CHI
21		 DAY KEN NHA
12		 IND IOW
30		 GLN
35		 MOH
10		 BRI ROA
32		 DAR RCH CHI KEN
30		 DOV
13		 CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM
20		 28th 230

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NCWTC Pts
2014 Turner Scott Motorsports 32 Chevy DAY MAR
7		 KAN CLT DOV
22		 TEX GTW KEN IOW ELD POC MCH BRI
9		 MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO
5		 HOM 35th 132
2016 ThorSport Racing 41 Toyota DAY
7		 ATL
6		 MAR
16		 KAN
18		 DOV
28		 CLT
17		 TEX
11		 IOW
4		 GTW
2		 KEN
13		 ELD
23		 POC
11		 BRI
30		 MCH
6		 MSP
30		 CHI
25		 NHA
15		 LVS
12		 TAL
24		 MAR
19		 TEX
15		 PHO
14		 HOM
20		 14th 387
2017 27 DAY
12		 ATL
4		 MAR
20		 KAN
23		 CLT
8		 DOV
4*		 TEX
5		 GTW
8		 IOW
14		 KEN
27		 ELD
30		 POC
2		 MCH
11		 BRI
5		 MSP
10		 CHI
6		 NHA
7		 LVS
1		 TAL
23		 MAR
9		 TEX
18		 PHO
20		 HOM
19		 5th 2263
2018 41 Ford DAY
4		 ATL
4		 LVS
7		 MAR
12*		 DOV
8		 KAN
18		 CLT
5		 TEX
16		 IOW
17		 GTW
19		 CHI
2		 KEN
1		 ELD
29		 POC
11		 MCH
6		 BRI
7		 MSP
14		 LVS
4		 TAL
16		 MAR TEX PHO HOM -* -*

ARCA Racing Series

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

References

  1. ↑ "Ben Rhodes Profile". Ben Rhodes official site. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Pennell, Jay (December 13, 2014). "Newest young gun? Ben Rhodes excited for JR Motorsports opportunity". foxsports.com. Fox Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Wolkin, Joseph (September 28, 2014). "Teenager, high school student, and NASCAR champion Ben Rhodes". motorsport.com. motorsport.com. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Marcos Ambrose Motorsports expands to two cars in 2012". Yardbarker. Fox Sports. February 14, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Rhodes Joins Turner For Partial East Slate". National Speed Sport News. December 18, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  6. ↑ Norman, Brad (June 7, 2013). "NASCAR Next a diverse, accomplished class". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Ben Rhodes to run partial Truck Series schedule". NASCAR.
  8. 1 2 Lintner, Jonathan (May 17, 2015). "Louisville's Rhodes top 10 in 1st NASCAR race". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  9. ↑ Staff Report (December 5, 2014). "NASCAR NEXT'S RHODES TO RUN XFINITY SERIES FOR JRM". nascar.com. NASCAR. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  10. ↑ Lintner, Jonathan (October 20, 2015). "Louisville's Rhodes parting with JR Motorsports". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  11. ↑ Pennell, Jay (December 15, 2015). "Ben Rhodes joins ThorSport Racing for 2016 Camping World Truck season". Foxsports.com. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Camping World Truck Series Final Laps". Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Ben Rhodes 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Ben Rhodes to remain with ThorSport for 2017 NASCAR Truck season". Motorsport.com. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Camping World Truck Series playoff field set; Bell captures regular-season crown". Nascar.com. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Ben Rhodes holds off Christopher Bell in wild Trucks finish". Nascar.com. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Ben Rhodes lands special home-state Truck Series win at Kentucky". Nascar.com. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  18. ↑ Lintner, Jonathan (June 25, 2014). "Louisville driver Ben Rhodes chasing NASCAR dreams". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
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