In his quest to both defend and capture his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, Ben Rhodes is set to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s series event at Nashville Superspeedway, the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 driver will make his 200th career start in the Truck Series.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Rhodes made his inaugural presence in the Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway in March 2014. By then, he was competing for the ARCA Menards Series East title with Turner Scott Motorsports after previously competing with TSM in the ARCA Menards Series East on a part-time basis in 2013 and in the UARA-STAR Series with Marcos Ambrose Motorsports in 2012. Driving the No. 32 Chevrolet Silverado for TSM, Rhodes started 12th and finished eighth in his series debut. He would make three additional Truck starts with TSM at Dover Motor Speedway in May, Bristol Motor Speedway in August and at Phoenix Raceway in November, where he finished 22nd, ninth and fifth, respectively. By then, he had also secured the 2014 ARCA East title.
After competing in 10 Xfinity Series events with JR Motorsports in 2015, Rhodes entered the Truck Series full-time for the 2016 season, where he piloted the No. 41 Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing. He commenced the season by finishing seventh at Daytona International Speedway in February before finishing sixth and 16th during his next two events. By then, he had notched his first career pole position at Martinsville Speedway in April. At Kansas Speedway in May, Rhodes was within striking distance of notching his first victory amid an overtime shootout until he made contact with veteran Johnny Sauter with two turns remaining and sent both into the outside wall, with Rhodes ending up in 18th place.
Despite finishing no higher than 11th during his next three starts, he rallied by finishing fourth at Iowa Speedway and a career-best runner-up result at World Wide Technology Raceway, respectively, in June. With only a single extra top-10 result recorded during the final seven regular-season events on the schedule, Rhodes did not make the 2016 Truck Series Playoffs. Ultimately, he would finish no higher than 12th during the seven-race Playoff stretch before concluding his first Truck Series season in 14th place in the final standings.
Remaining at ThorSport Racing while sporting the No. 27 alongside his entry for the 2017 Truck Series season, Rhodes began the season by finishing 12th at Daytona after being involved in a final lap multi-truck wreck that collected all four ThorSport Racing entries. After finishing fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway and 20th at Martinsville Speedway, respectively, Rhodes was in position to achieve his first career victory at Kansas. He led 25 laps and had outdueled Kyle Busch in the closing laps until he blew his engine with eight laps remaining and retired in 23rd place. Amid the disappointment at Kansas, the Kentucky native would accumulate four top-five results, a runner-up result at Pocono Raceway in July and seven top-10 results during the following 11 regular-season events on the schedule.
After finishing in sixth place during the regular-season finale at Chicagoland, Rhodes managed to claim the eighth and final transfer spot to the 2017 Playoffs in a tie-breaker over Ryan Truex. Then after finishing seventh in the Playoff opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, Rhodes made a daring three-wide pass on Truex and Christopher Bell for the lead during a seven-lap dash to the finish before fending off Bell to score his first elusive career victory in his 46th Truck start and transfer from the Round of 8 to 6.
Four races later, however, Rhodes’ hopes of transferring into the Championship 4 round came to an end during the Round of 8 finale at Phoenix Raceway after he got turned by Playoff rival Austin Cindric and made head-on contact into the inside wall before he slid up the track and collected teammate Matt Crafton during a restart with 21 laps remaining. Settling in 19th place during the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway after running out of fuel with five laps remaining, Rhodes would conclude his sophomore Truck season in fifth place in the final standings. By then, he tripled his top-five results (six) and earned seven additional top-10 results compared to his previous season (12). He had also led 203 laps and recorded an average-finishing result of 12.4.
Returning to sport the No. 41 alongside his entry as ThorSport Racing changed manufacturers from Toyota to Ford, Rhodes commenced the season with two consecutive fourth-place finishes and five top-10 results through the first 10 scheduled events. Then after finishing in the runner-up spot at Chicagoland in June, Rhodes notched his first Truck victory of the season and the third of his career at his home track, Kentucky Speedway, in July after leading 38 laps. He notched two top-seven results during the final four regular-season events before the Playoffs began and made his second consecutive Playoff appearance.
After being eliminated early from title contention with respective results of 14th, fourth and 16th throughout the Round of 8, he earned two top-five results and finished no lower than 12th during the final four events on the schedule before ending up in eighth place in the final standings. By then, he accumulated a career-high three poles, eight top-five results, and 13 top-10 results, with 232 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.9 to coincide with his Kentucky victory.
With Rhodes entering his fourth consecutive Truck Series season at ThorSport with his fourth different number, 99, for the 2019 season, he commenced the season with a 14th-place finish at Daytona after being involved in a multi-truck wreck during an overtime shootout despite leading 11 laps and leading when the incident occurred. Despite finishing in the runner-up spot three times and notching eight top-10 results during the 16-race regular-season stretch, Rhodes missed the Playoffs for the first time since 2016. He would finish in the top five twice and in the top 10 four times during the seven-race Playoff stretch before settling in ninth place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 11.3.
Like the previous season, Rhodes’ season commenced with a wreck at Daytona after he was involved in a multi-truck wreck with three laps remaining while battling for the lead and ending up in 25th place in the final running order. He would rally by finishing in the top 10 during his next three starts as he would reach 100 career starts in the Truck Series. After finishing in the top five four times during his next 10 starts, Rhodes snapped a 48-race winless drought by notching his fourth career victory at Darlington Raceway in September after fending off Derek Kraus during an overtime shootout and etching his name back into the Playoffs.
Despite transferring from the Round of 10 to 8 after respective finishes of 13th, 23rd and fourth throughout the Round of 10, Rhodes finished 20th, 20th and second, respectively, during the Round of 8, which were not enough for him to make the Championship 4 cutline. With a seventh-place finish during the finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, Rhodes ended up in seventh place in the final standings. By then, he notched a career-high nine top-five results, 14 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 10.0.
The 2021 Truck Series season was a career year for Rhodes, who remained as a ThorSport Racing competitor for the sixth consecutive season and his third piloting the No. 99 truck while the team returned to fielding Toyota Tundras. During the season opener at Daytona, Rhodes overtook Cory Roper entering the tri-oval on the final lap before edging a hard-charging Jordan Anderson to claim his fifth Truck career victory and first at Daytona. He would then go back-to-back in victories and win multiple races in a Truck season for the first time in his career after winning the Daytona International Speedway Road Course during the following weekend.
From there, Rhodes would finish in the top three three times and collect eight top-10 results during the final 13 regular-season events before the Playoffs commenced. Implementing consistency in the form of two top-three results and a total of four top-10 results throughout the Playoffs, Rhodes managed to make his first Championship 4 appearance. Then during the finale at Phoenix, Rhodes achieved his first Truck Series championship after finishing in third place on the track and emerging as the highest-finishing title contender over Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek and teammate Matt Crafton. With his accomplishment, Rhodes became the 19th different competitor to win a Truck Series title as he delivered both the fourth series’ driver’s title and first owner’s title for ThorSport Racing. Overall, Rhodes concluded the season with eight top-five results, a career-high 16 top-10 results, 99 laps led and a career-best average-finishing result of 9.3.
Entering the 2022 Truck Series season as the reigning champion, Rhodes commenced the season by finishing in second place at Daytona. Six races later, he overtook Carson Hocevar with four laps remaining to notch his first victory of the season and the seventh of his career at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April. He would proceed to finish in the top 10 four additional times for the final 10 regular-season events before making his sixth consecutive appearance in the Playoffs. With two runner-up results throughout the Playoffs and a sixth-place finish during the Round of 8 finale at Homestead in October, Rhodes managed to transfer from the Round of 10 to the Championship 4 round by a single point. Amid a late pit strategic move for two fresh tires in the closing laps that enabled him to assume the lead both in the race and the title battle, Rhodes would be overtaken and beaten by title rival Zane Smith amid an overtime shootout as he would settle in second place in the final standings. While he did not defend his title, Rhodes concluded the 2022 Truck season with eight top-five results, 13 top-10 results, a career-high 271 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.7.
Returning to pilot a Ford while retaining control of ThorSport’s No. 99 entry for the 2023 Truck Series season, Rhodes commenced the season by finishing 11th at Daytona amid a rain-shortened event. He would then record three top-five results and five top-10 finishes during his next nine starts before notching his eighth Truck career victory and his first at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, with Rhodes collecting the first Triple Truck Challenge $50,000 bonus of the season. The Charlotte victory also guaranteed a spot into the 2023 Truck Playoffs for the Kentucky native, who finished no lower than 12th during the final five regular-season events.
Despite enduring a difficult Round of 10, where he finished no higher than 16th twice, Rhodes managed to earn the eighth and final transfer spot into the Round of 8. Then, after finishing seventh and second, respectively, in the Round of 8’s first two events, he capitalized on a gusty pit call made by his championship-winning crew chief Rich Lushes to pit with 53 laps remaining, lead 22 laps and nurse his No. 99 Ford for the remainder of the event as the tires wore out to finish second at Homestead and secure the fourth and final transfer spot into the Championship 4 in a tie-breaker over rookie Nick Sanchez.
During the finale at Phoenix, Rhodes withstood four overtime shootouts amid a series of late carnages that affected all four title contenders, including Rhodes himself, to fend off a late charge from title rival Grant Enfinger and finish fifth on the track, but as the highest-finishing title contender over Enfinger, Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar, that enabled Rhodes to win his second Truck Series championship. With the accomplishment, Rhodes became the fifth competitor to achieve multiple Truck Series championships as he also delivered the fifth series title for ThorSport Racing.
This season, Rhodes has racked up two top-five results and four top-10 results through the first 12 scheduled events, with his highest result being a third-place run at Darlington in May. He is currently ranked in eighth place in the 2024 driver’s standings. Despite trailing the points lead by 177 points, he is 36 points above the top-10 cutline to make the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs with four regular-season events remaining on the schedule.
Through 199 previous Truck starts, Rhodes has achieved two championships, seven victories, five poles, 58 top-five results, 107 top-10 results, 1,234 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.6 as he strives to make the 2024 Playoffs and contend for his third series title.
Ben Rhodes is scheduled to make his 200th Craftsman Truck Series career start at Nashville Superspeedway for the Rackley Roofing 200. The event is set to commence this upcoming Friday, June 28, and will air at 8 p.m. ET on FS2.
