Team Information:
Crew Chief: Kevin Bellicourt
Manufacturer: Toyota
Engine: Triad Racing Technologies
2016 Driver Point Standings: 15th
2016 Owner Point Standings: 16th
Sounding Off – Ben Rhodes:
Are you looking forward to getting back to your short-track roots this weekend at Iowa?
“Yes. Iowa Speedway is a really, really fun race track. My crew chief and I, Kevin Bellicourt, have had some really good success there. We have a win there, and then the second time we went there in 2014, we almost got one, but that’s alright. We’re going to try to go back and pick up the trophy one more time. I feel good about Iowa; it’s got some really unique challenges to it. The bumps in Turns 1 and 2, the wash board effect as I like to call it, on the high side of 1 and 2 as well. I just really like short track racing, it’s a lot of fun. It’s a cool place in the sense that it’s a short track, but it’s got a lot of room. That’s one of the many things I like about the mile-and-a-half tracks, how much room you have.”
News & Notes:
- Chassis Chatter…The No. 41 ThorSport Racing team will unload chassis No. 49 for Saturday night’s Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway. This is the same chassis that Rhodes earned his first career pole with at Martinsville Speedway earlier this season, and finished 16th.
- Hawkeye State Stats… Rhodes, who will be making his 12th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) start on Saturday, has four starts in the NASCAR K&N Series East at Iowa Speedway in 2013 and 2014. In four starts at the .875-mile track, Rhodes has one win (May, 2014), two top-five and four top-10 finishes.
- Rookie Stripe… Rhodes is currently third in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings behind leader, William Byron after seven of 23 races this season.
- Race Rewind – Texas… Rhodes started 12th, ran as high as eighth, and finished 11th in his track debut at Texas Motor Speedway.
Rhodes’ 2016 NCWTS Stats:
- Starts: 7
- Poles: 1 (Martinsville, 2016)
- Top-5 Finishes: 0
- Top-10 Finishes: 2 (Daytona, and Atlanta)
- Best Finish: 6th (Atlanta)
- Laps Completed: 1086 of 1156 (93.9%)
- Laps Led: 47
- Start: 10.79
- Finish: 14.7
Rhodes’ Career NCWTS stats:
- Starts: 11 since 2014
- First full-time season: 2016
- Poles: 1 (Martinsville, 2016)
- Top-5 Finishes: 1 (Phoenix, 2014)
- Top-10 Finishes: 5
- Laps Completed: 1837 of 1938 (94.8%)
- Laps Led: 47
- First start: Martinsville (8th)
- Best finish: 5th: Phoenix
- Start: 10.0
- Finish: 13.4