LOUISVILLE, Ky. (August 28th, 2013) – After driving to victory lane in his last five of six NASCAR Whelen All-American Series races entered at three different tracks, 16-year-old Louisville, Kentucky, native Ben Rhodes hopes to keep the momentum rolling during the Labor Day weekend by entering the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series “Bobby Isaac Memorial” at Hickory Motor Speedway (NC) with Hawk-McCall Motorsports on Saturday, August 31st, following that up by racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East “Kevin Whitaker 140” at Greenville Pickens Speedway (SC) with Turner Scott Motorsports on Monday, September 2nd.
Rhodes raced at Hickory Motor Speedway on August 10th in the 100-lap ZLOOP Challenge event, driving the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford into victory lane for the first time at the historic North Carolina track. The NASCAR Next driver will bring the same chassis back Saturday, nicknamed “Smoke,” and attempt the same feat.
“Lee (McCall, crew chief) and the Hawk-McCall Motorsports team had the car hooked up the last time we were at Hickory,” said Rhodes. “We started in the back due to qualifying being rained out and the car worked well getting up through traffic until we had to pit for a power steering leak. Once we got that fixed, I was able to work back through the field to the front. It was difficult, but the car made it a lot easier to do. Hopefully Saturday we can start up towards the front and stay in contention for the win.”
Two days later, on Labor Day Monday, Rhodes will enter his fifth NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race of the year with Turner Scott Motorsports at Greenville Pickens Speedway. Rhodes has the momentum of three top-10 finishes in his last four starts in the series as well as two victories last weekend in Late Model Stock competition at the track, becoming the youngest Late Model Stock division winner in the track’s history. He will be back in his primary TSM chassis, nicknamed “Sweetness,” for the event.
“I am really looking forward to the K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville Pickens Speedway,” said Rhodes. “We had a great test a few weeks ago and my Turner Scott Motorsports team had the Alpha Energy Solutions Chevy handling really good for how slick the track can get. I also learned a few things racing my Late Model last weekend there that we can apply towards the race Monday. We are hoping to keep the momentum going from our recent success in the Late Model and carry it over to the K&N car.”
Rhodes’ race day updates for both events can be followed at www.twitter.com/benrhodes.
In 2013, Rhodes is sponsored by Alpha Energy Solutions, Kentucky National Guard, Park Community Federal Credit Union, Alliance Comfort Systems and Refrigerant Rescue.
Qualifying for the “Bobby Isaac Memorial” NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model Stock race at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday, August 31st, will take place at 5pm Eastern, which will be followed by a fan autograph session at 6pm and racing at 7pm. For more information and tickets, visit the track website at www.hickorymotorspeedway.com.
Qualifying for the “Kevin Whitaker 140” NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville Pickens Speedway on Monday, September 2nd, will take place at 4pm Eastern with a fan autograph session at 4:45pm and racing starting at 6pm. For more information and tickets, visit either www.greenvillepickens.com or www.nascarhometracks.com.
For more information on Ben Rhodes, including media availability, contact Jason “Stix” Buckley of STIX FX Entertainment at (704) 519-5528 or [email protected], and make sure to keep up to date on his racing career at the new website location benrhodes.com, like him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/benrhodesinc, and follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/benrhodes as well as Instagram at www.instagram.com/benrhodes.
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