The second race on the 2012 UARA-STARS Late Model Stock tour took place on Saturday, April 7th, at Dillon Motor Speedway (SC). Ben Rhodes and the Marcos Ambrose Motorsport #9 Stanley Ford Fusion team was able to rally back during the 150-lap feature to finish 10th after going for a spin early on.
The weekend started off solid for Rhodes and the team as the #9 Stanley Ford Fusion was third fast during the Friday practice and fifth fastest in the final practice Saturday. Going out first during qualifying, Rhodes timed in 12th fastest on a slick track.
“My car wouldn’t hook up to the track because of the local division tire rubber still being on the surface and being the first one out,” said Rhodes. “It put us 12th overall, but we have been back there before and knew what to do in the race.”
Rhodes’ plan derailed on lap 22 of the 150-lap event when a tap from behind sent him spinning coming off turn four. The car was ok, but he had to restart the race from the 16th position. With some worn tires from the spin, he was able to recover to finish 10th.
“The spin buzzed the tires, which hurt our advancement the rest of the race,” explained Rhodes. “I could run down the cars in front of me, but trying to get under them to complete a pass was difficult with the way the tires were. We got everything we could get though and salvaged a 10th-place finish.”
Rhodes and the #9 Stanley Ford Fusion team will be back in action at Rockingham Speedway (NC) in the UARA-STARS Late Model Stock event on Saturday, April 14th.
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.