Ben Rhodes (racing driver)

Ben Rhodes

Rhodes after winning his first pole position at Road America, 2015
Born (1997-02-21) February 21, 1997
Louisville, Kentucky
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
27 races run over 2 years
Truck no., team No. 41 (ThorSport Racing)
2016 position 14th
Best finish 14th (2016)
First race 2014 Kroger 250 (Martinsville)
Last race 2016 Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 8 2
Statistics current as of November 18, 2016.

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 Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing. Rhodes won the 2014 K&N Pro Series East Championship with Turner Scott Motorsports.

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.[1]

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.[2]

Racing career

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.[3][4]

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.[5][6] 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.[7] Rhodes scored five top five finishes in seven starts.[5] 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.[8] He got his first Career Xfinity Series pole at Road America.

Rhodes would move full-time in the K&N East Series for 2014, with former driver Mark McFarland as his crew chief.[5] 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.[9] He earned three top tens, including an 8th-place finish in his debut, in four Truck Series races.[4] Rhodes would also make his ARCA Racing Series debut at his home track Kentucky Speedway, starting fifth but finishing 27th after a crash.[5] 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.[5]

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

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 number 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.[2][4][10] 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.[11] On December 15, Rhodes joined ThorSport Racing to run full-time in the Truck Series in 2016, driving the No. 41 Toyota Tundra.[12] Rhodes started the season with a 7th-place finish at Daytona. Rhodes and Johnny Sauter were in a contention for the win at Kansas but both crashed in the final lap, allowing William Byron to secure his first win of his career.

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

Camping World Truck Series

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

References

  1. ↑ Lintner, Jonathan (June 25, 2014). "Louisville driver Ben Rhodes chasing NASCAR dreams". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Lintner, Jonathan (May 17, 2015). "Louisville's Rhodes top 10 in 1st NASCAR race". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Ben Rhodes Profile". Ben Rhodes official site. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  4. 1 2 3 Pennell, Jay (December 13, 2014). "Newest young gun? Ben Rhodes excited for JR Motorsports opportunity". foxsports.com. Fox Sports. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Wolkin, Joseph (September 28, 2014). "Teenager, high school student, and NASCAR champion Ben Rhodes". motorsport.com. motorsport.com. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Marcos Ambrose Motorsports expands to two cars in 2012". Yardbarker. Fox Sports. February 14, 2012. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  7. ↑ "Rhodes Joins Turner For Partial East Slate". National Speed Sport News. December 18, 2012. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  8. ↑ Norman, Brad (June 7, 2013). "NASCAR Next a diverse, accomplished class". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  9. ↑ "Ben Rhodes to run partial Truck Series schedule". NASCAR.
  10. ↑ Staff Report (December 5, 2014). "NASCAR NEXT'S RHODES TO RUN XFINITY SERIES FOR JRM". nascar.com. NASCAR. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  11. ↑ Lintner, Jonathan (October 20, 2015). "Louisville's Rhodes parting with JR Motorsports". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  12. ↑ Pennell, Jay (December 15, 2015). "Ben Rhodes joins ThorSport Racing for 2016 Camping World Truck season". Foxsports.com. Retrieved December 15, 2015.

External links

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