Louisville, Kentucky, native Ben Rhodes will take his next step in motorsports on Saturday, March 16th, by entering the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East “DRIVE4COPD 125” event at Bristol Motor Speedway (TN), driving the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet with Turner Scott Motorsports. The 16-year-old racer’s series debut will be the first of seven races this season with TSM in the K&N Pro Series East prior to racing the full series in 2014.
“Bristol is an amazing track and one of those places every racer dreams of turning laps on,” said Rhodes. “I have been waiting for this weekend since we signed with Turner Scott Motorsports, and I am looking forward to racing in the DRIVE4COPD 125 Saturday.”
Saturday’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut will be the third race and different series entry of the 2013 season for Rhodes. In February, Rhodes raced to a second-place finish in the inaugural NASCAR Whelen All-American Series “UNOH Battle At The Beach” at Daytona International Speedway (FL) driving for Hawk-McCall Motorsports. On March 9th, he finished third in the UARA-STARS Late Model Stock season opener at Southern National Motorsports Park, also with HMM.
While Rhodes hasn’t turned laps in a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race or raced at Bristol, a recent shakedown test and a few other factors has him confident going into this weekend’s event.
“Last Friday before the UARA event at Southern National, we unloaded the K&N car to shake it down and make sure it was ready,” said Rhodes. “The Turner Scott Motorsports gang has been working hard during the off-season getting the cars ready for this year and it is obvious because the car was fast and ready to race. It is a confidence builder when your team unloads the car race ready at the track.
“I have never raced at Bristol other than on a simulator, but last year I was there as a guest of Marcos Ambrose for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and spent most of the day with his spotter Tim Fedewa. It gave me a unique perspective of the track and a lot of knowledge going into my first race this weekend.”
Rhodes will also have another veteran helping him navigate around “The World’s Fastest Half Mile” Bristol track. His Late Model car owner and crew chief Lee McCall will be his crew chief at Bristol and for all his races with Turner Scott Motorsports this season.
“Lee had great runs at Bristol when he was a crew chief in the Sprint Cup series with Sterling Marlin,” said Rhodes. “I couldn’t have a better person calling the shots for me this weekend.”
In 2013, Rhodes is sponsored by Alpha Energy Solutions as well as Alliance Comfort Systems, Kentucky National Guard, Refrigerant Rescue, and Park Community Federal Credit Union.
Qualifying for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East “DRIVE4COPD 125” at Bristol Motor Speedway takes place on Thursday, March 14th, at 5pm Eastern with the green flag dropping for the race on Saturday, March 16th, at approximately 4:45pm after the NASCAR Nationwide Series event. For live event updates at the track, visit www.nascarhometracks.com. Updates on Rhodes during the weekend can be followed at www.twitter.com/benrhodesinc.
For more information on Ben Rhodes, including media availability, contact Jason “Stix” Buckley of STIX FX Entertainment at (704) 519-5528 or [email protected], and make sure to keep up to date on his racing career at www.benrhodesinc.com, like him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/benrhodesinc, and follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/benrhodesinc.
