The Morning Warmup: Ben Rhodes Breaks Through
The Morning Warmup
Nov. 6, 2021
(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
A strong Friday drive made Ben Rhodes a NASCAR champion at Phoenix Raceway.
By Aaron Bearden
The Podium: Today's Top-Three Stories
1) Ben Rhodes scores first Truck title in Phoenix (NASCAR Trucks)
A year that began with a celebration at Daytona International Speedway ended with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ ultimate prize for Ben Rhodes and ThorSport Racing.
Rhodes nudged his way past Zane Smith for fourth with nine laps remaining and worked his way up to third before the checkered flag to lead all Championship 4 contenders in Friday’s Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway. As a result, the Kentuckian claimed the series title to wrap up his sixth season with the tour.
“I can’t even breathe – that was the hardest last 40 laps I think I’ve ever driven in my life,” an emotional Rhodes said afterward. “I was doing things with the race car I probably shouldn’t have been doing. It was dumb. But I had everything to lose.
“We brought it home and we won it. I don’t even know what to say. This is crazy. … I’m so proud, so proud of my ThorSport Racing group. We went to Daytona (at the start of the season) – this wasn’t like a vision that we had. Everybody wants to win (a championship), but you just don’t know. It’s so hard.”
Rhodes is the second driver to give ThorSport Racing a title, following three championships from fellow title contender Matt Crafton.
Zane Smith was Rhodes’ toughest competition on the night, rising ahead of him early in Stage 3 with strong short run pace. But a lengthy final stint of the race allowed Rhodes to claw his way back by Smith, who finished fifth to end the year second in points.
John Hunter Nemechek was the championship favorite, but suffered an early flat tire after contact in the pack and fell two laps down early. He got a lap back in Stage 1 and finally rejoined the lead lap early in the final stage, but ran out of time to rally forward. Nemechek finished seventh at race’s end, settling for third in the championship. Crafton wrapped dup the quartet in 12th after a quiet night.
Chandler Smith won the actual race, outlasting runner-up Sheldon Creed and fourth-place finisher Sheldon Creed for his second series victory. Wrapping up the top-10 were Christian Eckes, Nemechek, Todd Gilliland, Carson Hocevar and Austin Hill.
(Source(s): NASCAR.com)
2) Steve Phelps addresses the media for annual press conference (NASCAR Cup)
An optimistic Steve Phelps took time with the NASCAR media for his annual “State of the Sport” press conference on Friday at Phoenix Raceway.
In a media session that neared an hour in length, the NASCAR president discussed everything from future schedules and track attendance to the polarizing 550-horsepower package.
There were many things to take away from the session. Phelps noted that 2021 track attendance is up from nearly every race from 2019, while also admitting that some like Texas Motor Speedway had an “unacceptable” level of attendance. He revealed a reality-based series on the sport with NBC Entertainment that will begin production in December.
Phelps admitted that NASCAR is “open to rotation” of the championship race weekend while praising the way Phoenix has embraced the role of title host. He claimed social numbers as “the highest they’ve been since 2015,” called NASCAR “the most stable sport on television since 2018,” discussed uncertainty over when or if the Auto Club Speedway track’s announced short track conversion will occur and acknowledged that other OEMs are in discussion with the sport.
On the topic of vaccinations, Phelps claimed that the series’ rates are “not high enough” while saying that he thinks “there’s a responsibility that we have to each other to make sure we’re playing safe.”
Phelps doubled down on praise for the 550-horsepower package, citing fan council data and saying “it suggests we have better racing right now than we’ve had arguably ever.”
“I know that it seems convenient, but we are not going to make every race fan happy. I wish we could, I really do,” he said. “But what one person likes, another person doesn’t. So what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to look at the number of people who are saying, the maximum number of people who are saying, I really like that, give them more of what they’re getting.”
(Source(s): NBC Sports)
3) Max Verstappen leads the way in Friday practice at Mexico (F1)
Championship rivals Mercedes and Red Bull Racing shared time atop the charts in Friday’s opening practice sessions for the Mexican Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull paced the second practice session comfortably at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, running four tenths of a second clear of Valtteri Bottas to lead the way.
Bottas has set the early pace for the weekend, leading opening practice by a tenth of a second over Verstappen on a dusty race track. Lewis Hamilton followed Bottas in third at day’s end, having his fastest time from his first run on hard tired deleted. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez followed in fourth to give Red Bull and Mercedes the top four positions on pace.
Carlos Sainz was the best of the rest for Scuderia Ferrari, slotting a second behind Verstappen in fifth. Pierre Gasly, Charles Leclerc, Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso wrapped up the top-10.
The driver with the roughest opening day was George Russell, who will take a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after his car was hit with gearbox issues in practice.
“Unusually, we encountered several gearbox issues today and have consequently had to take a new gearbox which will give us a grid penalty,” Russell said. “It’s not ideal, but it’s Sunday where the points are awarded. FP1 on the other hand was a strong session for us.
“The car was feeling good, I found a decent rhythm and we showed some strong race pace. That race pace is going to be critical as the high altitude makes it really difficult for the cooling, for the brakes and for the power unit.
“If we’re on top of that then I think we can be on the front foot for the race.”
(Source(s): F1.com, Adam Cooper / Autosport)
Other News and Notes
NASCAR
This week’s “Friday 5” includes a former NASCAR driver who could play a big role in helping eventual champions for this weekend. (Dustin Long / NBC Sports)
StarCom Racing confirmed its impending NASCAR exit and sale of its Cup Series charter on Friday. (Jayski)
Brad Keselowski led a rare Cup practice session on Friday. (Chris Estrada / NBC Sports)
Noah Gragson’s crew chief, Dave Elenz, won’t return to his team in 2022. (Dustin Albino / Jayski)
Friday night also marked Junior Joiner’s last race as the crew chief for Matt Crafton. (Bob Pockrass / Twitter)
A hauler breakdown left Xfinity Series title contender Daniel Hemric’s car arriving late to Phoenix Raceway on Friday. (NASCAR.com)
IndyCar
Colton Herta discussed his F1 chance and potential NASCAR interest in a discussion with RACER. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
F1
Formula 1 has extended its contract with the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai through 2025. (Edd Straw / The Race)
Tell me if this sounds familiar, NASCAR fans - Lewis Hamilton thinks many drivers need to show more respect with their actions. (Mike Pryson / Autoweek)
Some unexpected challenges have left McLaren on the back foot in Mexico. (Scott Mitchell / The Race)
Supercars
Shane van Gisbergen delivered a Race 23 victory at Sydney Motorsport Park. (Supercars / Twitter)
Supercars ace Will Davison admits that he’s “nearly embarrassed” by his five-year winless drought in the series. (Simon Chapman / Speedcafe)
Sports Cars
SRO Motorsports Group and the ACO will co-organize the Asian Le Mans Series starting in 2023. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
The No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing team drew closer to a title with a pole run for the FIA World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain. (Daniel Lloyd / Sportscar365)
AF Corse attempted to protest its BoP for the Ferrari 488 GTE in Bahrain, but stewards rejected the protest. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
There are 56 cars entered for the Super Taikyu finale at Okayama. (Daily Sportscar)
Dirt
David Gravel scored a victory in World of Outlaws World Finals action on The Dirt Track at Charlotte on Friday night. (Brian Walker / WorldofOutlaws.com)
On the Late Model side of World Finals, Jonathan Davenport stole a victory from Brandon Sheppard with a late slide job. (Mike Warren / WorldofOutlaws.com)
Brady Bacon picked up a USAC Oval Nationals victory with a bit of fortune on Friday night at Perris Auto Speedway. (Richie Murray / USAC Media)
Short Tracks
The Alabama State Championship will conclude the Montgomery Motor Speedway season this weekend. Here are 10 things to know for the race. (Elgin Traylor / Speed51)
Moto
A candid Casey Stoner discussed is health on Friday, admitting that he’s “never more than 60 percent of my usual self” as he tries to manage chronic fatigue. (Valentin Khorounzhiy / The Race)
Other
Want to see something different? Check out this Airspeeder drag race. (Airspeeder / Twitter)
On Track Today
NASCAR
ARCA Menards Series West Arizona Lottery 100 (Phoenix Raceway): 3 p.m., TrackPass
NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying (Phoenix Raceway): 5:35 p.m., TrackPass
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying (Phoenix Raceway): 7:00 p.m., CNBC
NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship (Phoenix Raceway): 8:30 p.m., NBCSN
F1
Practice 3 (Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigues): 1:00 p.m., ESPN2
Qualifying (Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez): 4:00 p.m., ESPNews
Supercars
Supercars Race 24 qualifying (Sydney Motorsport Park): 11:30 p.m., SuperView
Supercars Race 25 qualifying (Sydney Motorsport Park): 11:50 p.m., SuperView
Supercars Race 24 (Sydney Motorsport Park): 1:35 a.m., SuperView
Supercars Race 25 (Sydney Motorsport Park): 3:30 a.m., SuperView
Sports Cars
FIA World Endurance Championship 8 Hours of Bahrain (Bahrain International Circuit): 6:30 a.m., Motor Trend on Demand
Dirt
World of Outlaws World Finals (The Dirt Track at Charlotte): 1:00 p.m., DirtVision
USAC Oval Nationals (Perris Auto Speedway): 8:30 p.m., FloRacing
High Banks Classic Weekend (Bridgeport Speedway): 4:00 p.m., FloRacing
Tribute to Gary Patterson (Stockton Dirt Track): 9:00 p..m., FloRacing
Short Tracks
Mountaineer 100 (ONA Speedway): 3:00 p.m., Speed51
Show Me the Money Series (Montgomery Motor Speedway): 8:00 p.m., Speed51
Drag Racing
World Cup Finals (Maryland International Raceway): 10:00 a.m., FloRacing
Fast Fact:
Statistically, the 2021 season was Ben Rhodes’ best in six years with the Camping World Truck Series. His 9.3 average finish topped 2018 (9.9) for his best to date, and his two wins were the most Rhodes has managed in a season. He only led 99 laps and secured eight top-fives in 22 races, but made them count and put together a consistent season with 16 top-10s in 22 starts to thrive as others faltered.
The Morning Warmup is fueled by associate sponsors David Colyer, Cat Hicks, Bob and Sally Wichert, Jory Fleischauer, Spencer Pullins, Nathan K. Thomas, Karen L. Springer. Ethan Davies, Tyler Sorenson, Mary Dzuro and Michelle Cison.
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