Ben Rhodes Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Grabbing the lead from Carson Hocevar after a restart on Lap 111 of 134, Ben Rhodes pulled away to win Friday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Rhodes, the ninth different winner in 11 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races this season, also collected a $50,000 bonus for winning the first of three events in the Triple Truck Challenge, a bonus program that could mean $500,000 for a driver who can sweep all three.  “I didn’t think we were thatRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Corey Heim prevailed at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway late Friday night to earn his first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory of the season after persevering through both rain and dry conditions, two red flag periods for weather and multiple charges by the highly-motivated veteran Kyle Busch. The 20-year old Georgia-native, Heim, led his first laps of the 2023 season at exactly the right time – holding the point for an impressive 82 of the 124 laps of the Long John Silver’s 200.Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Nick Sanchez led an absolutely dominant 168 of 172 laps in Saturday’s SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway, but the 21-year old rookie and reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Zane Smith collided at the front of the field after taking the white flag and Carson Hocevar instead drove through to take his first career victory in double overtime. The 20-year old Hocevar led only that last overtime lap in the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet to claim his first win by 1.628-seconds overRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service AUSTIN, Texas – Zane Smith became the first repeat NASCAR winner at the famed Circuit of The Americas road course, the reigning series champion holding off veteran Kyle Busch to claim his second straight victory in Saturday’s XPEL 225 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race. The 23-year-old Californian’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford led the final 15 laps – a race best 16 of the 42 laps in all – and crossed the finish line an impressive 5.451-seconds ahead of the two-time NASCAR CupRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Christian Eckes finished where he started Saturday’s Fr8 208 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway—with a lot of turmoil in between.  Eckes claimed his second victory in the series in overtime, choosing the bottom lane and front-row position for a restart on lap 136 of 137.   After leading the first 30-lap stage of the race wire-to-wire, however, Eckes sped on pit road and lost track position. He spent the rest of the event working his way backRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — Kyle Busch revels in changing circumstances.  Five days after winning at Auto Club Speedway in his second NASCAR Cup Series race in a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, Busch powered his own Kyle Busch Motorsports Chevy to victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.  Despite a couple of twitchy moments in traffic, Busch dominated Friday night’s Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, leading 84 of 134 laps and beating runner-up Zane Smith to the finish line by 4.981 seconds. Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. – No longer the bridesmaid of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is Zane Smith, who won in a thrilling overtime finish in Friday’s Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway. “Oh, my God, third time’s a charm. I want this shit more than anyone in the world. I don’t care what anyone says,” an elated Smith after capturing the title. “Thank you to all you race fans, my whole team. Oh, my God, I was crying that whole lap. “I’ve wanted this championship forRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ben Rhodes and Thorsport Racing rolled the dice Friday night at Phoenix Raceway, but ultimately came up one spot short in their bid for a second straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. Of the four championship contenders, Rhodes’ No. 99 Toyota Tundra just didn’t quite have the speed to compete with others, but when the caution flag flew on lap 135, the team saw an opportunity to shake things up and went for it. Electing to take two tires instead of fourRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be the first title fight of the weekend to be settled, as the four remaining drivers in the Playoffs will duke it out Friday night at Phoenix Raceway for the right to hoist the championship trophy when the checkered flag falls. Eight drivers started the Playoffs with a berth in the championship race in mind, but half of them fell by the wayside, leaving Ty Majeski, Chandler Smith, Zane Smith and defending series champion Ben RhodesRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service PHOENIX, Ariz. – Ben Rhodes is superstitious about being in the same room as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series trophy. The Kentuckian has an Old Fashioned named after him in The Barn at Phoenix Raceway. Rhodes mentioned both Seneca and Pythagoras in his Championship 4 Media Day interview at the Phoenix Convention Center. And—oh, yes—he’s the defending series champion—without much credit in the eyes of handicappers for winning the title last year. Among the Championship 4 drivers, Rhodes is the clear long shot.Read More