LOUISVILLE, KY :: NASCAR Next driver Ben Rhodes headed to Kingsport Speedway (TN) on Friday, June 21st, to race in the 60-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model Stock event. After earning his first-career NWAAS pole position, the 16-year-old Louisville, Kentucky, native started from the fourth position due to an invert and was battling for third when a cut tire after contact from another car forced his No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford to pit road. He was able to get back on the track, run the fastest lap of the race, and finish 13th.

Although Rhodes has raced at Kingsport Speedway before, he along with his Hawk-McCall Motorsports team were making their first start at the track under the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series banner. The team took full advantage of an all-day test session Thursday as well as an early afternoon practice session Friday before qualifying.

“Most of the drivers we were going to race against have many laps on this track, and since this was our first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race at Kingsport, we decided to try out many different set-ups to find the right one,” said Rhodes. “We learned a lot over the two days of testing and got the car really fast heading into qualifying.”

With 20 cars taking time during qualifying, Rhodes man-handled the car around the “concrete jungle” to a 15.190 second lap earning the pole during the session as the fastest qualifier.

“We haven’t been considered a top qualifier this year, but that is because we always set our car up for the long races,” explained Rhodes. “This is a short 60-lap race, so it is go time from the drop of the green flag and no hanging back to save tires. So we just went for it in qualifying and ended up with the pole.”

Starting the race from the fourth position due to an invert, Rhodes took the green flag, racing hard on the outside line while the rest of the field scrambled to get to the preferred racing groove down low. Rhodes was third on the outside line and was looking for a spot to drop down, but before he could, another car drove up the track and into his left rear tire, cutting it down and forcing him to pit road.

“The car was really fast at the start and we were pulling a few of the cars running the outside line,” said Rhodes. “I was almost clear of the second-place car, but I didn’t quite have the spot so I had to stay up so we didn’t make contact. I dropped back to battle for third with another car and was still hung up on the outside line. Before I knew it, I was hit in the left rear tire so hard it popped the tire and messed up some of the rear end mechanics of the car. It was disappointing because we had to pit and lose laps to replace the tire.”

Rhodes lost three laps to the leader while the Hawk-McCall Motorsports team bolted on an old tire to replace the damaged one. However, even with an older tire and the rear end of the car not quite right, Rhodes was back on the track passing lead-lap cars. Before a lap 31 red flag for weather, he turned the fastest lap of the race.

After a long delay to get the track back dry, Rhodes restarted the race in the 18th position, three laps down, and despite some glitches due to some moisture inside the car, he was able to keep passing cars, turning the second-fastest lap time of all drivers on the white flag lap, and completed the race in 13th.

“We were three laps down to the leaders due to the tire issue and really didn’t have that much of a shot to get back on the lead lap and win, but Lee McCall (crew chief) and the Hawk-McCall Motorsports team didn’t give up on me so I wasn’t going to give up on them. We were able to pass many cars during the race, and even though they weren’t on the same lap as us, it showed our car was fast. We had a race-winning car if we didn’t get run into, but that is all part of short track racing.

“We will be back at Kingsport Speedway later this year to race a few races. Robert Pressley has a great facility and I like racing with these guys. The finish we had isn’t what we should have had, but we are all smiles getting our first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series pole and turning the fastest lap of the race. Hopefully when we come back we can have better luck during the race and the Alpha Energy Solutions Ford can end up in victory lane.”

Rhodes is also sponsored by Alliance Comfort Systems, Kentucky National Guard, Refrigerant Rescue, and Park Community Federal Credit Union.

The next race for Rhodes will be the “Rusty Harpe Memorial” NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race at Caraway Speedway (NC) on Friday, July 5th.