Ben Rhodes Fourth in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series 100-Lap Event at Hickory

 

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May 28th, 2012 – After a few weeks off from racing, Ben Rhodes headed to Hickory Motor Speedway (NC) on Saturday, May 26th, to race in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series 100-lap Late Model Stock event.  Starting from the fourth position, Rhodes survived a rough race, driving his #9 Stanley / Alpha Energy Solutions Ford Fusion to a fourth-place finish.

 

[custom_frame_left][/custom_frame_left] With the heat index approaching the 100-degree mark, Rhodes and the Marcos Ambrose Motorsport team dialed in the car as much as possible on a very greasy race track.  Rhodes was one of the final drivers to hit the track in qualifying, turning a 15.479-second lap, good for fourth fastest of the 17 cars there.

 

“It was difficult to try to get a read on the track with how hot it was out there,” said Rhodes.  “We got the #9 Stanley / Alpha Energy Solutions Ford to where we thought we should be in practice and hoped for the best in qualifying.  Billy Smith (crew chief) and the guys got the car dialed in for qualifying pretty good, giving us a top-five starting spot for the race.”

 

When the green flag dropped for 100 laps of racing, Rhodes drove the #9 machine to the third position, and at halfway he worked his way to second.  Multiple laps of side-by-side racing, as well as a few close calls, hurt his tires, which cost him a few positions late in the race.  With just a couple laps remaining, Rhodes was able to drive from the fifth position to fourth, earning his fourth top-five finish of the year at the Hickory, North Carolina, track.

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“This race was a very hard 100 laps of competition,” said Rhodes.  “Our car was pretty good, but many laps of racing side by side for position hurt the tires.  We could get alongside a few of the guys either on the high side or low side, but we just didn’t have the forward bite to pull by them off the corner.  Also, the local Hickory racers drive hard and do not give an inch.  They make you earn every position on the track.  I grazed the wall on the front stretch and back stretch while on the outside just from being crowded, but we were able to keep the car going in the right direction.

 

“I have to thank Jamie Yelton and the entire Marcos Ambrose Motorsport crew.  That was the hottest race day of the year so far, but the guys all kept their cool and got the car really good for the race.  We learned a lot today on what minor changes we can make to the car for a very hot, slick track, and we are excited to go back there and try again.”

 

Next up for Rhodes and the #9 Stanley / Alpha Energy Solutions Ford Fusion for Marcos Ambrose Motorsport is the UARA-STARS Late Model Stock event at Anderson Motor Speedway (SC) on Friday, June 1st.

 

 

 

For More on Ben Rhodes, visit his website at www.BenRhodesInc.com, and make sure to follow Rhodes on Facebook and Twitter for updates during the week and race day updates at www.facebook.com/benrhodesinc and www.twitter.com/benrhodesinc.