LOUISVILLE, Ky. (March 11th, 2014) – One year ago Louisville, Kentucky, native Ben Rhodes made his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut, racing at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway (TN) half-mile oval to a ninth-place finish. A year later, the 17-year-old NASCAR Next driver is looking for his first-series victory in his 10th series start, driving the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet Impala with Turner Scott Motorsports in the “PittLite 125” Saturday afternoon, March 15th.
While a ninth-place finish is a solid start for any driver in a new series, Rhodes wanted more in 2013.
“We had a really fast car last year in practice and was on top of the scoring pylon in the final session when another driver had a problem with their car dumping oil all over the track,” said Rhodes. “There wasn’t enough time to react and a couple of us hit the wall pretty hard. We had to go to a back-up car and my first laps in it was during qualifying. We still raced from 21st to seventh before we lost some power and ended up finishing ninth. It wasn’t a bad finish for what we had to deal with, but our primary car was really strong and I think we could have battled for the top spot with it.”
Using the motivation from last year’s event, Rhodes is ready to conquer the concrete Saturday.
“We are bringing chassis “Sweetness” back, which was our primary chassis we used last year. That chassis really liked Bristol and we are going back to complete some unfinished business and hope to put the Alpha Energy Solutions Chevy in a position to win late in the race.”
With two races complete in the 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, Rhodes is currently seventh in points, 27 behind the leader, with one pole and one top-five finish.
In 2014, Rhodes is sponsored by Alpha Energy Solutions as well as Alliance Comfort Systems, Kentucky National Guard, Refrigerant Rescue, and Park Community Federal Credit Union.
The “PittLite 125” NASCAR K&N Pro Series East event at Bristol Motor Speedway will take place on Saturday, March 15th, with practice and qualifying on Thursday, March 13th. Race day updates can be followed at www.twitter.com/benrhodes.
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 www.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.
# # # #
EVENT INFORMATION
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East – Race 3
Saturday, March 15th, 2014
“PittLite 125”
Bristol Motor Speedway (0.533-mile concrete oval) – Bristol, Tennessee
Practice Sessions: 3/13 at 12pm – 1:15pm; 1:45pm – 3pm
Qualifying: 3/13 at 5pm
Autograph Session: 3/15 at 11:30am
Green Flag (150 laps): 3/15 at 4:45pm
TV: FOX Sports 1 on Saturday, March 22nd at 11:30am
www.nascarhometracks.com | www.bristolmotorspeedway.com
# # # #