Following a rodeo-style regular-season stretch mired with a rough start but late surge that enabled him to make the Playoffs on points, Ben Rhodes has an opportunity to defend his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship in 2024.
Rhodes, the reigning two-time Truck Series champion from Louisville, Kentucky, stumbled out of the gate by notching only a single top-10 result through the first eight events of the regular-season stretch. Mired within the eight-race stretch were five finishes of 16th or worse.
Then in May, Rhodes notched his first top-five result of the 2024 season by finishing third at Darlington Raceway. Two races later, he collected a second top-five result by finishing fifth at Charlotte Motor Speedway before notching back-to-back seventh-place results at World Wide Technology Raceway and Nashville Superspeedway, respectively. Despite finishing 18th and 21st during his next two starts, Rhodes rallied by being competitive during the regular-season finale at Richmond Raceway this past weekend and taking the checkered flag in seventh place, which officially locked him into the Playoffs by 34 points.
By making the 2024 Playoffs, Rhodes secured himself into the Truck Series’ seven-race postseason battle for the title for the seventh time in his career and fifth in a row in recent seasons.
Stats-wise, Rhodes has the second-lowest recorded number of top-five results at two through 16 races and is tied with Playoff newcomer Daniel Dye for the lowest top-10 results (six) and average-finishing result at 14.9. Nonetheless, Rhodes, who is well-known for capitalizing in late stages that enabled him to make the Championship 4 round by a mere margin over the final two seasons and outlasted four overtime attempts to win his second title a year ago, has another opportunity to pull any hidden tricks beneath his sleeves for seven races to defend his title.
For this season, Rhodes is set to commence the 2024 Playoffs in ninth place in the Playoff standings with 2,002 points. Should he win this year’s title, he would join an elite group of competitors that feature teammate Matt Crafton and Jack Sprague as having the second-most titles in the Truck circuit at three and leaving him one away from tying Ron Hornaday Jr. for the most at four.
Even after notching his top-10 run at Richmond combined with his recent string of consistent results, Rhodes remains optimistic that he and his No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 team can transfer their way through every round of the Playoffs and bid for another championship to deliver back to ThorSport’s headquarters in Sandusky, Ohio.
“[Richmond] certainly met [our expectations],” Rhodes said on FS1. “We fought inside the top five all night long and then, some of these restarts, we get shuffled back, we work our way back forward. I’m happy with the improvements of our team. It’s not our first rodeo, so we’re going to make another run at the championship.”
Ben Rhodes’ quest to win his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title in 2024 and third in recent seasons commences at the Milwaukee Mile with the LiUNA! 175. The event is scheduled to occur this Sunday, August 25, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.
