MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Ben Rhodes hard work and determination has paid off.
So far.
In his sophomore season of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) competition, the personable driver found Victory Lane at the pinnacle of the racing season, the Playoffs – but while sliding through the Round of 8 with his Las Vegas triumphant – Rhodes knows the road that lies ahead with a shot of chasing his first NASCAR national series championship starts in Saturday afternoon’s Texas Roadhouse 200 presented by Alpha Energy Solutions.
“It’s been an up and down season for our 27 Safelite Toyota team,” said Rhodes.
“Obviously, Las Vegas was really big for us, it allowed us to advance to the Round of 6 here. Then Talladega wasn’t too good of a race. I’m looking at this race tomorrow just as survival for me. There’s a lot of new drivers in here and some drivers from the Cup Series as well.
“A lot of people probably see it as there opportunity to win and do well and be really aggressive and you know I think we just need to survive.”
Martinsville’s final short track race of the season could make or break a season for some, but for Rhodes it’s just about survival.
After all, NASCAR’s new race format which includes Stage points offers an incentive for drivers to poke their competitors and wrinkle the fenders with crucial points as the prize.
“We can certainly take ourselves out of the Playoffs (at Martinsville), more so than boosting ourselves forward, so survive (Martinsville) and then Texas and Phoenix will be good for us.”
The April Truck race at Martinsville wasn’t too kind to the Louisville, KY. Native. After starting 17th, Rhodes could never find his Martinsville mojo and struggled throughout the race and finished 20th.
This time around – a finish like that could be catastrophic to his Playoff spot.
“I definitely believe we can be in Homestead,” sounded Rhodes. “I’m determined to be there. I know my whole team is more than ever. I think we deserve to be there, but we have a whole field and three different races to try to get there. There’s so many variables, so many bad things can happen and I’ve seen that throughout my season this year.
“Again, I think survival is my biggest story and I think as long as we can do that, we’ll be fine. We have enough speed in our Tundras to race up front and get points.
“We can point our way into the Playoffs, or into the final four, but I’d much rather get a win and I think we have the speed to do that, but I feel like Phoenix and Texas would be some very strong race tracks for me.”
Facing the pressure of earning ThorSport Racing their third Truck Series championship, Rhodes has recently turned to boxing as part of his workout regimen – a discipline that has helped the 20-year-old deal with strictness and endurance.
“One of the cool things about that sport versus our sport is it’s what you make of it,” Rhodes said. “When you’re in a race car, you can be really tense and you can wear yourself out really quickly or you can be relaxed and have a better frame of mind and you can approach every corner with a better, more clear head.
“It’s just something fun to do. It changes up the monotony of training,” Rhodes told Motorsport.com. “You get on a bike and you cycle for two hours and you know it’s strung out, it’s very long. It’s very similar to your heart rate and stuff and a race car, but I enjoy the intensity of it and then also just the practicality of it, right?
“It’s just a lot of fun. I’m a huge fan of boxing and UFC. I can’t say I’m a huge like football or stick and ball sports fan, but I love boxing, UFC. I watch any time it’s on TV, you’ll catch me buying all the Pay-Per-View stuff. I’m just a big fan of it.”
Time will tell, but Martinsville’s often bullring stylish behavior could be the round that Rhodes delivers a knockout punch.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01
