April 16, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Ben Rhodes turns love of Bristol dirt into first victory at Thunder Valley

BRISTOL, Tenn.—Ben Rhodes said on Friday he preferred dirt over the concrete at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The defending Camping World Truck champion proved his point by sweeping both stages and bringing home the win on Saturday.

Despite a faux pas that stranded the No. 99 ThorSport truck on the track rather than in the pits following the first stage, Rhodes recovered from the strategy and passed Carson Hocevar for the win with four laps remaining in the Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt.

“I thought we gave it away for a moment,” Rhodes said of his error. “Coming back through the pack like that was really, really tough. It wasn’t something we wanted to do.  

“My crew gave me such an awesome Toyota Tundra this weekend that I wasn’t going to let them down. I had to go back up there and earn the spot back. Really, really proud of their effort.”

Hocevar finished second followed by John Hunter Nemechek, Parker Kligerman, Christian Eckes, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Grant Enfinger, Matt Crafton and Zane Smith.

Rhodes led the first 40 laps en route to the Stage 1 win. His progress was slowed by Andrew Gordon, who spun in Turn 4 to trigger the first caution. Rhodes remained in the lead when the race returned to green as Ty Majeski passed Friesen for second and held the position to the end of the segment. Rhodes stayed out on the track when NASCAR red-flagged the race for pit stops following a miscommunication with his team. Majeski followed suit.

Rhodes ascent to his second green-white-checkered was delayed when Kris Wright spun in Turn 2. Rhodes stayed the course for the second stage win before pitting along with Majeski. They restarted in the top 15.

Nemechek cycled out to the lead but lost the point to Hocevar on the restart. Buddy Kofoid, who started 32nd in his NASCAR Truck Series debut, finished seventh in Stage 2 and was fifth when the race returned to green. The most bizarre moment of the night occurred when Matt DiBenedetto executed a slide job on Austin Wayne Self. Self returned the favor, slammed the back of the No. 25 truck and locked onto the rear deck which was stuffed into his grille. The two trucks stopped off of Turn 2 to draw the fifth caution on Lap 97.

Hocevar remained in the lead with Nemechek in tow as NASCAR red-flagged the race four laps later. The race returned to yellow—and then green—with 45 laps remaining. Hocevar kept Nemechek in his rearview mirror through Keith McGee’s spin on Lap 113 and through the next restart on Lap 133 after Christian Eckes turned Chandler Smith.

Nemechek pinched Hocevar coming to the line, but the No. 42 Niece truck pulled away. Kofoid climbed to third but Kligerman regained the position. On new tires, Rhodes, who restarted fifth, was coming. Rhodes pulled a slide job on Kofoid for fourth-place in Turn 2. Kofoid attempted to crossover and went around.

“I’m so sorry,” Kofoid told the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports crew after finishing 27th. “I don’t even know what happened there, I’m so (freakin) mad.”

Unfortunately, Rhodes’ teammate Ty Majeski and Derek Kraus were also collected in the process.

After leading a career-best 55 laps, Hocevar was forced to defend. Prior to the restart, Rhodes asked his team if he could return to the highline—and he did. With four laps remaining, Rhodes grabbed the point and held on for the win much to the disappointment of Hocevar.

“Either rip the top (lane) or crash him,” said the 19-year-old driver. “I hate saying that, but it’s part of this racing, right? He had newer tires and he had the fastest truck all day, so I was just trying really hard and hoping I could hold off.

“I kept looking up in the mirror hoping and man, he’s fifth and he really can’t go anywhere and once I knew he was fourth, I was like 'Oh, I’m in trouble here. He slide-jobbed me and I should have prepared for it, crossed him over and raced him really hard.”

For Rhodes, the victory marked his first of the season and the sixth of his career. He extended his points lead to 38 over Chandler Smith.