From ThorSport Racing PR:

 

Ben Rhodes, No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Toyota Tundra

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Gateway Motorsports Park – Drivin’ for Linemen 200

Race No. 9 of 23

 

Team Information:

Crew Chief: Kevin Bellicourt

Manufacturer: Toyota

Engine: Triad Racing Technologies

2016 Driver Point Standings: 13th

2016 Owner Point Standings: 14th

 

Sounding Off – Ben Rhodes:

 

You’ve never raced at Gateway. Are you looking forward to making your first start there this weekend?

“I feel like the flat race tracks are something we can really adapt well to in the trucks. My crew chief and I, we have an excellent notebook built up from the K&N Series, and then we had a couple ARCA starts together, and we’ve done a lot of stuff together at the short, flat tracks. I feel really good about it. We’ll just have to unload and see how it goes in practice. Luckily, with the truck series, we get more practice, and we’ll see how it fares in practice, and just work on it. We’re still learning everything together; it’s Kevin’s (Bellicourt, crew chief) first time in the truck series, and my first time running full time in the series, so I’m seeing a lot of these track for the first time, like this weekend at Gateway – a lot of new stuff. So, we are just taking it one step at a time, and we gotta get some starts, and finishes under our belt.”

 

Was your strong run at Iowa last week a confidence booster for you and your team?

“We had a strong run at Iowa last week, not exactly the finish we wanted, but it was solid. We needed that, especially after everything that went on last week with the fire at the shop. Unfortunately, we are not able to bring the chassis that we were originally planning on using for this race, it was a brand new chassis that got destroyed in the fire, but we are bringing our chassis that we raced last weekend in Iowa. I’m optimistic we’ll have another solid run this weekend. We are so close, just need to put it all together.”

 

News & Notes:

  • Chassis Chatter…The No. 41 ThorSport Racing team will unload chassis No. 49 for Saturday night’s Drivin’ for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park. This is the same chassis that Rhodes earned his first career pole with at Martinsville Speedway earlier this season, and his career-best finish of fourth at Iowa Speedway last week.
  • “Show Me” State Stats… Rhodes, who will be making his 13th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) start on Saturday, will make his debut at Gateway Motorsports Park in the 160-lap event.
  • First Pitch… Rhodes, a Louisville, KY native, threw out the first pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals game on Tuesday night, June 14 during a media advance for the track.
  • Rookie Stripe… Rhodes is currently third in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings behind leader, William Byron after eight of 23 races this season.
  • Race Rewind – Iowa…In his track debut at Iowa Speedway in the NCWTS, the ThorSport Racing driver started 10th, ran consistently inside the top-five, even contended for the race win, and finished fourth. The top-five showing was Rhodes career-best finish.

Rhodes’ 2016 NCWTS Stats:

  • Starts: 8
  • Poles: 1 (Martinsville, 2016)
  • Top-5 Finishes: 1 (Iowa)
  • Top-10 Finishes: 3
  • Laps Completed: 1286 of 1356 (94.8%)
  • Laps Led: 47
  • Avg. Start: 10.8
  • Avg. Finish: 13.4

Rhodes’ Career NCWTS stats:

  • Starts: 12 since 2014
  • First full-time season: 2016
  • Poles: 1 (Martinsville, 2016)
  • Top-5 Finishes: 2
  • Top-10 Finishes: 6
  • Laps Completed: 2037 of 2138 (95.3%)
  • Laps Led: 47
  • First start: Martinsville (8th)
  • Best finish: 4th (Iowa)
  • Avg. Start: 10.0
  • Avg. Finish: 12.6

Race Information:

Date: Saturday, June 25

Time: 8:30pm ET on FOX Sports 1

Track: 1.25-mile oval

Distance: 160 laps/200 miles

 

About Alpha Energy Solutions:

Alpha Energy Solutions is a commercial and industrial service provider specializing in building automation, indoor energy solutions, chillers, boilers, electrical, equipment rental, food equipment service, piping, plumbing, sheet metal, refrigeration, insulation, and part sales.  With more than 200 service personnel, Alpha is one of the largest self-performing service providers. Alpha’s highly skilled technicians operate quickly and efficiently in all areas of system maintenance and management. As members of the community they serve, Alpha’s associates are committed to job quality and customer satisfaction. To learn more, visit www.alphamechanicalservice.com

 

About ThorSport Racing:

ThorSport Racing, based in a state-of-the-art 100,000-square-foot facility in Sandusky, Ohio, is the longest-tenured NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. ThorSport Racing, which has competed in the NCWTS since 1996, will run the No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra driven by two-time NCWTS drivers’ champion Matt Crafton, the No. 13 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota Tundra driven by Cameron Hayley, the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Toyota Tundra driven by Ben Rhodes, and the No. 98 Safelite/CURB Records Toyota Tundra driven by Rico Abreu in 2016. To learn more visit www.ThorSport.com

 

ThorSport Racing Media Contact:

Jessica O’Brien

Phone: 803-240-5807

Email: [email protected]