Rhodes motors to first Truck Sequence win of 2023 at Charlotte
Grabbing the lead from Carson Hocevar after a restart on lap 111 of 134, Ben Rhodes pulled away to win Friday night time’s North Carolina Training Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Rhodes, the ninth completely different winner in 11 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Sequence races this season, additionally collected a $50,000 bonus for successful the primary of three occasions within the Triple Truck Problem, a bonus program that would imply $500,000 for a driver who can sweep all three.
“I didn’t assume we had been that good in follow,” stated Rhodes, who beat runner-up Corey Heim to the checkered flag by 2.398s, as Heim, third-place Dean Thompson and Carson Hocevar battled for the second spot over the past 24 laps.
“I didn’t qualify the very best, and right here it got here to life at night time… Oh, man, I had a lot enjoyable. That is a lot enjoyable. Charlotte is a monitor that we come to—ThorSport Racing, we’re based mostly in Sandusky, Ohio—we come to the North Carolina guys’ home, and we wish to win.”
The victory was Rhodes’ first of the season, his first at Charlotte and the seventh of his profession. Along with the Triple Truck Problem bonus, Rhodes is locked into the CRAFTSMAN Truck Sequence Playoffs.
“The entire season is so laborious to place collectively,” Rhodes stated. “It’s unbelievably laborious, and it’s solely gotten tougher through the years…. A championship being locked in, I’ll take that. The final three races have been so unbelievably laborious on my staff. We’ve been wrecked within the final three and haven’t had superb showings due to it.
“So I’ll take the factors—thanks.”
Hocevar held the lead for the lap 111 restart however was trapped in the course of a three-wide scenario and dropped to sixth within the working order. Heim took second and Thompson third, whereas Hocevar rallied and swapped the third place with Thompson earlier than ending fourth.
“Me and the No. 42 (Hocevar) and the No. 5 (Thompson) had been most likely the very best vans,” stated Heim, who led a race-high 49 laps and held off Hocevar to win the primary stage. “However the No. 99 (Rhodes) simply got here alongside actually robust, and as soon as we acquired to second on the restart the place the No. 42 acquired put within the center there, I actually thought we had a shot at it.
“Nevertheless it simply proves that clear air is king right here, however I really feel like if I did a greater job of getting by as quickly as potential somewhat than ready on a run, we would have had a greater alternative.”
Notes: Thompson’s third-place end was a career-best. Hocevar led 43 laps and gained the seconds stage by 5.746s over Heim. Rhodes, the 2021 sequence champion, led 37 laps—25 within the remaining run to the end. The ultimate two Triple Truck Problem races are scheduled for World Huge Expertise Raceway on June 3 and Nashville Superspeedway on June 23.
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