Recap:
Ben Rhodes, driver of the No. 27 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra, made his second career start at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) in Sunday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) 250. Showing strength throughout the 64-lap event, Rhodes finished 10th in Stage 1, and third in Stage 2, battling a, “tight” Toyota Tundra. Restarting 12th for the final 20 lap shootout, Rhodes made contact with the No. 21 machine, causing significant right front damage to his Toyota Tundra, and forcing Rhodes to make an unscheduled pit stop, under caution, at lap 53. Restarting 19th, Rhodes was able to make his way through the field in the final nine laps to finish 10th behind race winner, Austin Cindric.
Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
Quote:
“We had a very fast Safelite Toyota Tundra today – well balanced. I don’t know if we could have competed for the win, but we definitely could have finished top-five – the guys out front we’re just so fast. We got up to the top-five, after having to battle through the field all day, and Sauter made a mistake going into Turn 9, and completely blew the corner. He left the door open for me to set him up for Turn 10, and then he just drove into me – driving me off the race track. He didn’t even try to make the corner. He locked bumpers with me, cutting my tire down, and we had to come in for an unscheduled stop. Once that happened, we had to start at the back of the field with only a handful of laps to go, and I did everything I could to get back to 10th-place. For the restart, NASCAR put us at the tail-end of the longest line, and those lap cars really hurt our speed, and I couldn’t pick up as many spots. Not the best points day, but all-in-all, we’re just going to keep moving forward. Chicago is a race track I know I can win at. I’m very confident at that track, I’ve been there many times.”
Team Information:
Started: 9th
Finished: 10th
Laps: 64/64
Laps Led: 1
Status: Running
Driver Points: 5th
Owner Points: 5th
2017 Stage Wins: 1
2017 Stage Bonus Points: 133
2017 Playoff Points: 1 (Kentucky)
Notes:
- The NCWTS had two practice sessions on Saturday morning in preparation for Sunday’s NCWTS 250. Ben Rhodes was 10th in each session.
- Starting from the ninth position, Rhodes led the 32-truck field once, for one lap, finishing 10th in Stage 1, third in Stage 2, and 10th in the NCWTS 250.
- In two starts at CTMP, Rhodes has led one lap (2017) en route to one top-10 finish (2017).
- Playoff status… With the top-8 drivers moving on, the ThorSport Racing driver is currently in, on points. Rhodes is currently fifth in the NCWTS driver standings, but seeded seventh in the Playoff standings.
- In 15 starts this season, the ThorSport Racing driver has one pole (Pocono), and has led 123 laps en route to five top-five, and eight top-10 finishes.
- In 42 career starts, Rhodes has two poles, and has led 178 laps en route to eight top-five, and 16 top-10 finishes.
- Rhodes’ ThorSport Racing teammates finished 13th (Enfinger), 21st (Coughlin), and 25th (Crafton).
- Up Next: The Chicagoland 225 at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday, September 15 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.