Ben Rhodes headed to Myrtle Beach Speedway (SC) to race in the Limited Late Model feature as part of the Myrtle Beach 400 weekend. After starting 31st, Rhodes moved through the field to just outside the top five during the 100-lap event on Sunday, November 20th, eventually finishing 12th.
Rhodes and the Fat Head Racing team arrived at Myrtle Beach Speedway earlier in the week to get laps on the track.
“I am glad we came out early to check out the track and get some track time,” said Rhodes. “I have raced my Late Model at Hickory Motor Speedway and Newport Speedway. Here at Myrtle Beach, you have to drive the track completely different. The testing time helped get me used to how to get around this track.”
After getting the car comfortable during long runs, the team worked on qualifying runs. On Saturday morning, Rhodes was fourth fastest during a practice session. However, when Rhodes was able to finally get on track at night during his qualifying run, he timed in 31st.
“I really overdrove turn one during qualifying,” explained Rhodes. “We qualified later in the evening than we thought we were going to and the track had a lot of grip. It made me feel like I could drive the car harder, but that hurt my times. That is something I will remember for the next time I race here.”
During the first quarter of the 100-lap event, Rhodes moved up a few positions, with the goal of taking care of his tires for late in the race. While not punishing his tires, by the halfway mark, he was running in the 16th position.
On lap 73, while running just inside the top 10, a massive pile-up, which Rhodes was able to avoid, put the field under red-flag conditions for clean-up. The stop in the action for over 30 minutes seemed to affect Rhodes’ race car.
“When we went back racing, the car was totally different. I tried different lines around the track to compensate, but it felt like a totally different set-up was under the car.”
Rhodes slipped back a few positions over the remaining laps, but still finished 12th, up 19 positions from his starting spot.
“We had a great car overall this weekend,” said Rhodes. “I have to thank the entire Fat Head Racing team, Jamie Yelton and my crew chief Lee McCall. I learned a lot this weekend racing through the field and I cannot wait until next season.”
Rhodes will spend the off season practicing his Late Model before switching to the Marcos Ambrose Motorsport #9 machine, maintained by Fat Head Racing with crew chief Lee McCall, to compete in the 2012 UARA-STARS Late Model Stock Series as well as various Late Model events during the 2012 racing season.
Watch a video race recap with Ben Rhodes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD6E84IlQbw