LOUISVILLE, Ky. and SANDUSKY, Ohio — Story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Matt Sullivan/Getty Images for NASCAR photo —
As of Thursday night, you couldn’t bring Ben Rhodes off of cloud nine if you tried.
That statement comes with good reason, too, following the announcement on Tuesday afternoon that he would be running full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for ThorSport Racing in 2016.
The 18-year-old spent a beleaguered 2015 season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, piloting the No. 88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in 10 races. But while Rhodes sat on the pole (at Road America due to rain) and scored a best finish of seventh in his debut race at Iowa in May, his goal was to find a home where he could race full-time and gain experience on a consistent basis.
He revealed in October that he was on the job hunt, and after a chaotic game of “musical chairs” around the NASCAR garage — complete with Johnny Sauter’s departure from the veteran NCWTS team — Rhodes found a home with the Sandusky, Ohio-based operation.
“It’s been a busy offseason; I’m not gonna lie,” Rhodes admitted during an appearance on the Stock Car Steel/SRI Motorsports Show on Thursday night, returning home from a visit to ThorSport’s Ohio headquarters. “They call [this time of year] Silly Season in NASCAR with good reason. There’s been a lot going on, but getting hooked up with ThorSport Racing is pretty special to me. It’s a heck of an opportunity, to have some of the best [equipment] in the Truck Series and the best stuff I’ve ever had in my career, at least in my opinion.”
“After getting to go up to their shop and see everything, that was what sold me on [landing at] this place. I couldn’t be more thankful to Duke and Rhonda Thorson and all the people at this team for giving me a shot; I’m looking forward to giving them a great season in return for that.”
The young driver comes to ThorSport with the goal of replicating the success he had during his championship season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2014, and the team allowed him to hand-pick who his crew chief would be in order to achieve that goal.
Rhodes didn’t disappoint, choosing veteran Kevin Bellicourt — who is coming off a championship season in the K&N East ranks with fellow young gun William Byron this year and had a behind-the-scenes hand in Rhodes’ title-winning season the year before — for the position and saying that he feels it will be a “major key” to his growth during his rookie Trucks campaign.
“The team allowed me to go out and pick a crew chief that I have a great relationship with and would work together with really well, and that was Kevin,” Rhodes explained. “They believe firmly in the driver-crew chief communication [factor], as being that’s where the magic comes in, and I believe the same thing.”
“The communication that I have with Kevin Bellicourt, my crew chief for this year, is probably some of the best communication I’ve ever had already. We just have a great relationship, so putting this all together will help speed up whatever learning curve I may have at Daytona and make the magic happen (hopefully) right off the bat.”
While there will be a learning curve for the Kentucky native as he transitions from the XFINITY cars to the Trucks, he is hoping that will be expedited by the familiar voice in his ear.
“It’s a giant step in the right direction before we’ve ever really begun,” Rhodes said of having Bellicourt as his crew chief after having team communication with him in the past. “Kevin is the guy that I wanted for the job. I know it’s a huge step for him to move up to Sandusky, but he was 110 percent open to it from the time I first called him and gave him the news. He’s moving his family up there, they’re all in and that’s really cool for me and the guys at the shop to see.”
While the NASCAR Next alumnus knows what he will be doing in 2016, there is still uncertainty surrounding the remainder of the ThorSport program. Rhodes offered what light he could on the situation, as well as expounded on how his portion of the team came together ahead of the new year.
“A lot of information is still under wraps about the breakdown of the rest of ThorSport heading into 2016. As of right now, the No. 88 team [of two-time series champion Matt Crafton] is my only confirmed teammate. I am really excited about that, though; Matt’s a champion with a lot of experience that I know I will lean on a lot in the coming season.”
“As far as my team goes, the No. 41 team is kind of a mixture of guys. The guys at ThorSport do a lot of moving around of people to try and get the best chemistry with driver, crew chief, engineers and team that they can get; they’re guys that have already worked together but they know will also work well with us. A lot of stuff is being worked on right now to accommodate us and it makes me really excited for what we might be able to accomplish going forward into the year.”
One of the key pieces to Rhodes’ puzzle is his sponsor, Alpha Energy Solutions — of which his father Joe is the company president — as well as his truck number. For that, Rhodes has elected to bring back an old favorite that he hopes will provide him the same success it did in the K&N East ranks two seasons ago.
“We’re bringing the No. 41 back. That’s the number that I had in my early NASCAR days — it’s got a bunch of wins and the K&N East championship in 2014 — and now we’re going to go out and get it more wins and another championship.”
Before he can go after a championship, however, Rhodes’ first task is to go after a solid start to the season during Daytona Speedweeks — a period in February that he is more than ready for after spending two-thirds of his 2015 season learning from the sidelines.
“Daytona’s already coming up quick. Saturday will be two months exactly before the race. We’ve already been working on getting everything ready; I was getting my seat fitted while I was up (in Sandusky on Wednesday and Thursday) working with the team, so for me it’s just been cool to see this whole process start coming together … the race suits, the paint schemes for the trucks, the haulers, the crew’s shirts and uniforms and everything else that goes into making this team go around and go fast.”
“All of those little things make this really tangible for me as a driver, and it makes it that much more exciting to count the days down to that first race in February. I can’t wait. I’m ready to be back on track in a race car and ready to make some exciting things happen chasing another NASCAR championship.”
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season kicks off on Feb. 19 at Daytona International Speedway, with the running of the season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250.
For more information on Ben Rhodes, follow him on Twitter @BenRhodes or visit his website at www.benrhodes.com.
Listen in to an extended cut of Rhodes’ interview on the Stock Car Steel/SRI Motorsports Show by clicking on the player below:
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 21-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: news@racechaseronline.com
Follow RCO on Twitter: @RaceChaserNews
