Ben Rhodes (racing driver)

Personal life

Rhodes is the son of Lori and Joe Rhodes. His father is the president of Kentucky-based mechanical service contractor Alpha Energy Solutions which has sponsored Ben's racing efforts.

Rhodes graduated from Holy Cross High School in Louisville, Kentucky in 2015, finishing with a 3.98 GPA despite missing classes due to his racing career. He missed the school's graduation ceremony on May 15 because he was in Iowa to prepare for his Xfinity Series debut the next day; the school's president traveled to the race to present Rhodes with his diploma during driver introductions.

Early years

Rhodes began his career in 2004 when he was seven years old, starting in Kart racing, winning several champion titles before moving to Bandoleros in 2008, and Legends cars in 2010, then moving up to late model stock cars beginning in 2011.

After earning a several wins, in 2012 he signed with then-Sprint Cup Series driver Marcos Ambrose to begin racing Late Model cars in the UARA-STARS Series under the Marcos Ambrose Motorsports banner. After the 2012 season, Rhodes signed a deal with Turner Scott Motorsports to begin racing part-time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2013. Rhodes scored five top five finishes in seven starts. In June of that year, Rhodes was named to the NASCAR Next roster, composed of up-and-coming drivers expected to become the next group of stars in NASCAR competition.

K&N Pro Series East focus

Rhodes would move full-time in the K&N East Series for 2014, with former driver Mark McFarland as his crew chief. In mid-March 2014, it was announced Rhodes would make his Camping World Truck Series debut at Martinsville in the Kroger 250 for TSM, and drive in three additional Truck series races that season. He earned three top tens, including an 8th-place finish in his debut, in four Truck Series races. Rhodes would also make his ARCA Racing Series debut at his home track Kentucky Speedway, starting fifth but finishing 27th after a crash. Rhodes would claim TSM's second consecutive K&N Pro Series East Championship through five wins, 11 top five finishes, and six poles. Rhodes would also tie a series record set by Ricky Craven in 1991 by winning four consecutive races (Iowa, Bowman Gray, Five Flags, Langley Speedway) between May and June.

Xfinity Series

In December 2014, it was announced that Rhodes would move up to NASCAR's second-tier national series the Xfinity Series (formerly Busch and Nationwide) with JR Motorsports for 10 races in the 2015 season, sharing the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro with Sprint Cup Series drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Kasey Kahne. Rhodes made his debut with the team at Iowa Speedway on May 16, finishing seventh. Rhodes had the fastest time in the first practice at Road America in August 2015 and he was awarded the pole position after qualifying rained out. On October 20, Rhodes announced that he had left JRM, intending to run a full-time Xfinity schedule in 2016.

Camping World Truck Series

On December 15, 2015, Rhodes joined ThorSport Racing to run full-time in the Truck Series in 2016, driving the No. 41 Toyota Tundra. Rhodes started the season with a 7th-place finish at Daytona. Rhodes and Johnny Sauter were in contention for the win at Kansas but both crashed in the final lap, allowing William Byron to secure the first win of his career. Rhodes missed the inaugural truck series Chase and finished 14th in series points. On January 31, 2017, Rhodes announced his return to ThorSport for the 2017 season with new crew chief Eddie Troconis and renumbered No. 27 Tundra. Rhodes came closest to victory at Kansas when, after passing Kyle Busch late in the race, his engine expired with 10 laps to go.

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points