NCWTS BEN RHODES – 2016 CHARLOTTE PREVIEW

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Charlotte Motor Speedway – NC Education Lottery 200

Race No. 6 of 23

Crew Chief: Kevin Bellicourt

Manufacturer: Toyota

Engine: Triad Racing Technologies

2016 Driver Point Standings: 17th

2016 Owner Point Standings: 18th

“I think Charlotte will be a challenge, but I can apply some of the things I learned in Atlanta earlier this year. I guess you can say my biggest weakness in the Truck Series schedule this year is the mile-and-a-half program, just because of my lack of experience. I’ve only been on an intermediate track a handful of timeS, and they drive so much differentely than any other type of track. You have to work on your aero program – the setup – it’s a big combination of things. While Atlanta has a a worn out surface, Charlotte is fairly new – a lot of grip, lots of banking, just like Atlanta – so it’s going to be fast, it’s going to be narrow, it’s going to be tight. I think one of the bigger things I’ll struggle with there will be just trying to get your setup right in practice and knowing what you need ahead of time for the race. Since I’ve never been there, I don’t necessarily know what I need, so it will be a struggle for that reason. But, I feel like we have a really good mile-and-a-half program. We are steadily making gains on it. In Atlanta we unloaded ok, gained the entire practice session, and we were pretty fast at the end. Wed didn’t race the best, but we found some stuff there at the end, that I can use to be more aggressive in traffic, so I think those are really good gains for Charlotte. We are just going to keep building the notebook up, and getting faster and faster each week.”

Date: Friday, May 20

Time: 8:30pm ET on FOX Sports 1

Track: 1.5-mile oval

Distance: 134 laps/201 miles

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