Ben Rhodes, driver of the No. 27 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra, made his fourth career start in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Starting 17th, Rhodes suffered from a broken left-front brake fan, and ultimately brake issues throughout the 250-lap event. After multiple stops down pit road to diagnose the damage, the ThorSport Racing crew was able to drill holes in the grill of the No. 27 Tundra to allow air in, and ultimately cool down the brakes. Unfortunately, a 52-lap green-flag run in the Final Stage, forced Rhodes to go a lap down to the race leaders, and the Louisville, KY native settled for a 20th-place finish behind race winner, Chase Elliott.
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“The No. 27 Safelite AutoGlass/Alpha Energy Solutions Toyota Tundra was a little off today. We ended up having left front brake problems that plagued us the entire race. Today we were just trying to survive and keep the truck as clean as possible. At one point during the race, I almost made the comment that we were a weapon out there. I couldn’t even stop when I was coming in for the pit stops. As a team, we were off on the set up. I know that we’re going to Kansas next, which has always been a good track for us, so we’ll regroup and get back after it there.”
Notes:
- The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) had one practice sessions on Friday afternoon in preparation for Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Ben Rhodes was 18th-quick overall in the 50-minute session.
- Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 marked Rhodes fourth start at Martinsville Speedway. The ThorSport Racing driver started 17th, ran as high as ninth, and finished 20th.
- In four starts at the .526-mile track, Rhodes has one pole, and one top-10 finish.
- After three starts in 2017, the Safelite AutoGlass driver has led 20 laps en route to one top-five finish (Atlanta).
- In 30 career starts, Rhodes has one pole (Martinsville-1, 2016), and has led 75 laps en route to four top-five, and nine top-10 finishes.
- Rhodes’ ThorSport Racing teammates finished ninth (Crafton), 17th (Enfinger) and 19th (Coughlin).
- Up next: The Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway on Friday, April 12 at 8:30pm ET on FOX Sports 1.
Team Information:
Started: 17th
Finished: 20th
Laps: 249/250
Laps Led: 0
Status: Running
Driver Points: 6th
Owner Points: 7th