Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Championship Race | Friday, November 3, 2023
BEN RHODES DRIVES F-150 TO SECOND STRAIGHT TRUCK SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP
- Ben Rhodes won his second career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship and first with Ford after winning tonight’s Craftsman 150.
- It also marks the second consecutive series championship for F-150 after Zane Smith won the title a year ago with Front Row Motorsports.
- Rhodes is the fifth driver in NCTS history to win multiple titles, joining Ron Hornaday Jr., Matt Crafton, Jack Sprague and Todd Bodine.
- This also marks Ford’s third series championship in the last five years after Matt Crafton won in 2019 and Smith in 2022.
- Ford has now won the title four times overall with Greg Biffle being the first to do it in 2002.
UNOFFICIAL FORD FINISHING RESULTS
5th – Ben Rhodes
11th – Matt Crafton
14th – Ty Majeski
15th – Hailie Deegan
16th – Christian Rose
17th – Spencer Davis
25th – Zane Smith
34th – Conner Jones
BEN RHODES, No. 99 Kubota Ford F-150 – POST-RACE INTERVIEW – WHAT WERE YOUR EMOTIONS ON THOSE LAST FOUR RESTARTS? “I was so angry. I didn’t even know I’d be happy if I won at that point because I was so mad about it. I just couldn’t believe that every single time there was a caution. What the heck? The restart that I wadded the front end up from the missed shift in front of me, who could have planned that out. I’m just grateful to be here and grateful for Ford Performance, Kubota, Campers Inn, all of our partners. They make this possible.”
YOU GOT REUNITED WITH RICH LUSHES. HOW CRITICAL HAS HE BEEN IN THIS RUN? “It’s been super critical. The guy makes the calls when they matter and that’s what we need in playoffs. It’s crunch time. The pressure is on and he does it. He delivers.”
HOW WILL THE CELEBRATION BE TONIGHT? “You just wait and see.”
HOW DOES THIS FEEL? “I can’t even believe it. Let’s go! I hate when people do that on TV, so I’m sorry. But hey, this is so awesome, man. To go 25 laps into overtime, you know what that feels like? Almost lose it three times? Look at the front of the truck. It’s crazy. I didn’t think we were going to make it. I thought we were going to pop a tire. I thought anything that could have gone wrong was going to go wrong. Grant almost got me. Hats off to him. He ran a great race. I wouldn’t want to race against anybody else for the championship. He raced me clean, and I respect the hell out of him for it.”
WERE YOU AWARE GRANT WAS COMING OFF TURN FOUR? “I saw him. I’m watching the replay right here. I saw him. He went for everything, but he ran me clean, and I thank him for that. That’s what these championships are all about. It’s unfortunate we had so many cautions, but we ran each other clean, all of us did tonight, and ugh, great show. I love you guys. Thanks for all the fans coming out. I love it. Thanks Kubota, Campers Inn, my team, ThorSport Racing, Ford Performance. What a team. I don’t know how we pulled it off, but we got here and we did it.”
ZANE SMITH, No. 38 Speedco/Delo Ford F-150 – WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT RESTART? DID YOU MISS A SHIFT? “Yeah. I mean, right when I went to go grab fourth the 19 got to my bumper and I got stuck in third. It just sucks. It was a really great truck, but an awful ending. We should have won.”
