NCWTS: BEN RHODES – 2016 ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY RECAP

Started: 7th

Finished: 6th

Laps: 130/130

Status: Running

Driver Points: 8th

Owner Points: 8th

“Traffic – it just couldn’t run in traffic and that’s something we’re all going to go back to the shop and work on and work with Toyota on. We had a bad fast Tundra, but the problem was just trying to get around people and we worked on it, worked on it, worked on it. We got the balance a little off and got it too loose towards the end, fell back, started making our way back to the front and once again had some issues in the air. But the good news is that we came home with a sixth-place finish. It could have been a lot worse – a lot of bad stuff happening again. It felt like Daytona all over again and we were in the middle of a wreck and somehow made it through. Just really thankful for everybody that’s behind me – Alpha Energy Solutions, Refrigerant Rescue, Alliance Comfort Systems and ThorSport Racing for putting some awesome trucks together and all that they do.”

• The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) had three practice sessions on Friday afternoon in preparation for Saturday’s 130-lap event. Ben Rhodes, driver of the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Toyota Tundra was 20th, 14th, and seventh, respectively.
• The ThorSport Racing driver started seventh and finished sixth in his track debut at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway (AMS) on Saturday.
• Rhodes worked his way into the top five in the early going but was listed ninth by lap 26 because of a loose-handling condition.
• Crew chief Kevin Bellicourt brought the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Toyota Tundra to pit road at laps 39, 61, and 107, respectively – each time for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustments to aid in an ill-handling Toyota Tundra.
• On lap 79, while running 15th, Rhodes reported that his Tundra was way too loose.
• Running 13th with 20 laps to go, Rhodes narrowly missed a wreck that happened at the front of the field involving his ThorSport Racing teammate, Matt Crafton.
• After a short red flag, Rhodes restarted the race seventh on lap 113 and fell back to 10th before the final caution flag flew on lap 124 for an accident in Turn 4.
• The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender restarted seventh for the green-white-checkered flag shootout and crossed the stripe in the sixth position behind race winner John Hunter Nemechek.
• Rhodes was the second-highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender, and the third-highest finishing Tundra driver.
• In six career NCWTS starts, Rhodes has one top-five and five top-10 finishes.
• Rhodes’s ThorSport Racing teammates finished second (Hayley), 11th (Abreu) and 30th (Crafton)
• Up next: The Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Saturday, April 2, 2016