HAMPTON, Ga. – Despite leading 20 laps in Saturday afternoon’s gloomy Ultimate Tailgating 200 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, ThorSport Racing driver Ben Rhodes left the second race of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series season frustrated after finishing fifth – his first top-10 effort of the 2019 season.
Rhodes irritation for the finish arises after the Louisville, KY believes his No. 99 ThorSport Racing team is better than the performance they showcased during the 130-lap race.
“It was pretty frustrating actually,” Rhodes told reporters after the race. “This is probably the most frustrated I’ve been with a top-five. From the team as a whole, I am experienced enough now, crew chief and everybody has enough experience to where we should be doing better. We have higher goals for ourselves than fifth.”
Frustrated with the result at Atlanta and not earning a spot in Victory Lane, Rhodes, however, though his day was solid because of how many points they earned. On the final restart of the race, Harrison Burton stalled the outside lane which sent the field scattering, including Rhodes.
All things considered, Rhodes knows his day could have been worse.
Despite not finishing where he would have wanted—in victory lane—Rhodes thought the day at the
“All in all, it was a solid day,” Rhodes added. “We were second in the second stage with decent points all around. We got held up on that last restart. The 18 (Burton) spun the tires and I had nowhere to go. If I pulled to the outside, I would have been penalized.
“If I pulled to the inside, I would have been penalized. We were in a lose-lose situation there. We are still able to salvage a fifth-place finish. I feel like if we were able to restart on
the bottom, we would have had something to contend with them.”
On top of Rhodes’ strong effort, at one point during the race, the ThorSport Racing team as a whole was running in positions one through fourth. Rhodes found the statistic assuming knowing the different setups each truck had.
“The funny thing is that we were all running different packages,” he continued. “We were all different but different in a way. It showed strength and unity with the team. The driver lineup at ThorSport is pretty stout this year between Grant, Matt and Johnny.
“As a team, I think we can get better on things back at the shop. That will translate to raw speed off the haulers.”
Under the new leadership of crew chief Matt Noyce and his performance at Atlanta, Rhodes is beginning to see what his new team – including crew chief can improve on as a whole.
“We come here and do things totally different,” he said. “The way we do things here translates into the whole season. This is the race where I can see what my team is made of because we have a new crew chief, new spotter, new pit crew, etc. The average age of our team is like 27. They’re young.
“This was a good way for me to feel them out and see what they are made of. I know what I am made of, but I don’t know what they are yet. This is a good benchmark for our team. We know what we have to work on now.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
