LOUISVILLE, KY :: Louisville, Kentucky, native Ben Rhodes has been extremely motivated to enter the UARA-STARS Late Model Stock victory lane for the first time in his career, and has come close earlier this season with two third-place finishes, and most recently a second-place finish at Rockingham Speedway (NC). However, Saturday, June 1st, the 16-year-old racer will have a little more motivation as he will be racing the “Clarks Signs & Graphics presents the Courtesy Chevrolet 150” event in memory of Rita Lynn at Lonesome Pine Raceway (VA).
“Rita Lynn was someone very special to many,” said Rhodes. “In 2009 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had one breast removed, but she never made it into remission. Unfortunately she lost her battle with cancer last October.
“Mike Burke, who works with my sponsor Alpha Energy Solutions, and his family were very close to her. To pay tribute to her, Alpha has removed their name from the hood of my car this weekend and replaced with a pink bow and Rita Lynn’s name. A big group of her friends will also be wearing special pink shirts at the track.”
Recently Rhodes tested at Lonesome Pine Raceway with his Hawk-McCall Motorsports team, and he feels confident going into Saturday’s race.
“Our evening and night test gave us great information on what we will need this weekend,” explained Rhodes. “We were pretty fast during our mock qualifying run, but our race runs at night was where we felt the car performed really well. Hopefully at the end of the race we will have something for them and maybe we can pull off a victory for Rita Lynn.”
Rhodes is currently second in the UARA-STARS 2013 point standings, and is sponsored by Alpha Energy Solutions as well as Alliance Comfort Systems, Kentucky National Guard, Refrigerant Rescue, and Park Community Federal Credit Union.
Prior to the race weekend, Rhodes will throw out the first pitch Thursday at the Louisville Bats triple-A baseball game, which takes place at Slugger Field in Louisville, Kentucky. He will be signing autographs alongside his show car at the concourse on the first base side starting at 5pm Eastern with the first pitch at 6:35pm. For tickets and directions, visit www.batsbaseball.com.
Qualifying for the “Clarks Signs & Graphics presents the Courtesy Chevrolet 150” UARA-STARS Late Model Stock race at Lonesome Pine Raceway will take place on Saturday, June 1st, at 5pm. A fan meet-and-greet autograph session will take place at 6:15pm with racing starting at 7pm. Rhodes’ race day updates can be found at www.twitter.com/benrhodesinc. For full schedule and ticket information, visit www.uara-stars.com.
