By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
After Talladega, Ben Rhodes showed disappointment following the Fr8Auctions 250 at Talladega Superspeedway because he did not advance to the next round of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs.
Rhodes found trouble early in the race. On lap 60, the infamous Talladega Big One occurred and Rhodes was caught in the middle of it.
However, the team was able to fix the truck, but it just wasn’t meant to be for the organization to move on.
“Bad day for the No. 41 team. It is what it is. We got caught up in the first wreck. I didn’t think we were going to be able to continue. I was watching the oil and water temperature peg. I had flat tires and everything else. They fixed it miraculously! I was ready to race. We just could never get our lap back. We were fighting back. That was the unfortunate part. If we could have done that, we could have possibly competed for a win. We will go out and finish out the season strong,” Rhodes said post-race.
Going into the playoffs, Rhodes wanted to have redemption from his 2017 run. However, multiple misfortunes throughout the season have resulted in the organization.
“That is the big disappointment for us. All of these guys work so hard this year and we have put so much into this team. We have had so many misfortunes come our way that have set us back this whole season,” he continued.
“Had those not happened, we would have enough bonus points to point our way in. It’s just been an unlucky season for us. We can make excuses, but that is not what we are going to do because we are here to race and get some wins.
Rhodes knew that the next four races—Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead—were some of his best tracks. He is disappointed that he will not be going into them still fighting for the championship.
“The next four races are some of our strongest tracks. I am disappointed going into them knowing that we are not in them racing for the championship,” he finished.
Rhodes found himself just one point shy of advancing into the next round. He finished 16th in the race.