KANSAS CITY, Kan.: On a night when everything needed to go right for defending Craftsman Truck Series champion Ben Rhodes—it went wrong.
Although Rhodes qualified fourth, the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford simply didn’t have enough speed during the Kubota Tractor 200 to be a factor on Friday night at Kansas Speedway.
And despite every tweak to the truck, Rhodes just couldn’t find the necessary handling to be competitive over 134 laps and finished 22nd, 25 points below the cut line to advance to the Round of 8.
“I just don’t have the words,” Rhodes said. “I’m pretty disappointed, to say the least. But the disappointment started early in the race. As soon as we fired off, we went from fourth to 20th because the truck was handling so bad.
“I knew we were going to be in for a big fight. Not getting any stage points was really bad—and then we hit the wall—but it really didn’t affect the handling all that much. The handling was just so bad, I was trying to hang on and make perfect laps, but you’re fighting the truck with everything you’ve got.”
Rhodes lost three positions in the first 10 laps and dropped to 14th by Lap 20. At the end of the first stage, on Lap 30, the No. 99 Ford F150 sat 17th. And while Rhodes was ahead of Grant Enfinger after Stage 1, the driver of the No. 9 CR7 Motorsports truck gained six positions by the end of the second stage.
After finishing Stage 2 in 22nd, Rhodes gained five positions in the pits to start the final stage. The Doug Randolph-led crew attempted one last adjustment during the third and final caution with 55 laps to go—but it was too little, too late.
And like his teammate Ty Majeski, who was leading the race coming to the white flag when his truck ran out of gas, fuel mileage came into play for Rhodes as well.
“We made the final play that we had (an early pit stop under caution on Lap 78)—and it seemed to be working out well, but then Grant picked up some spots and we ran out of fuel,” Rhodes said. “I was trying to stay in traffic to save as much fuel as I could and also manage the tires.
“We made massive adjustments and it didn’t seem like anything was fixing it. I think somehow our bar load got away from us. We have to go back and see what happened there.”
Wins and consistency have provided Rhodes with a cushion in the past, but 2024 has been a struggle for the No. 99 team. In 19 starts, Rhodes has just two top-five results, a third-place finish at Darlington Raceway and a fifth-place finish at Charlotte. His average finish of 15.6 is the worst since his rookie season in trucks.
After three consecutive seasons where Rhodes advanced the Championship 4 Round, he failed to advance to the Round of 8.
“We threw everything we had at this Kubota F150. I wish we were still in the Playoffs, obviously, so our partners and everyone that supports us could have a good run. But we’ve had a first (championship), a second (place in the standings) and a first, in the last three seasons, so that’s something good to fall back on.
“It takes some of the disappointment away but the more you win, the more you want to win. So, it’s just a hard night, a difficult pill to swallow.
“I wish we had a better season all around. When you don’t have the finishes and the running positions to get the stage points, it leads to this.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
