Ben Rhodes wins Trucks race, sweeps stages at Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt track

Ben Rhodes won NASCAR’s Truck Series race at the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track on Saturday night, taking the lead from Carson Hocevar in the final laps.

Rhodes jumped up to third, then second in rapid succession after a final restart, which came after Buddy Kofoid went for a spin in Turn 2 in the final 15 laps. Rhodes followed Hocevar’s line then dropped below him for the pass as John Hunter Nemechek raced to their inside.

Rhodes won the first two stages of the race, but didn’t pit after the first stage, meaning he had to pit after the second stage break and lost his track position. He returned to the lead for the final four laps.

“I thought we gave it away for a moment,” Rhodes said on FS1. “Michael Waltrip asked me on the radio, ‘Did you mean to stay out?’ And the real answer is, ‘No.’”

“Driving back through the pack was really, really tough and not something we wanted to do,” Rhodes continued. “My crew gave me such an awesome Toyota Tundra this weekend that I was gonna let them down.”

Rhodes sweeps stages, snags win

Rhodes, last year’s Truck Series champion, finished second during last year’s Trucks race on Bristol dirt. He also finished second at Daytona and Atlanta this year, but the latest win marks his first of the year. He led a race-high 95 laps of the 150-lap event on Saturday.

Hocevar led the next-most laps at 55, and was asked after the race what he could’ve done coming to the final flag.

“Either rip the top or crash him,” Hocevar said. “I hate saying that, but it’s part of this racing. I couldn’t really compete with him. They just had better tires and he was the fastest on the track all day.”

Budding Buddy Kofoid

Kofoid was a name that was repeatedly mentioned as a driver to watch by Cup Series drivers, including Christopher Bell, who delivered directions to the young, co-Toyota racer on his radio. Kofoid, 20, made his first start in the series, and is considered a rising star in open-wheel dirt racing.

He ran from a 32nd place start up to fourth in the final stage before spinning to bring out the last caution.

“I don’t even really know what happened there,” Kofoid told his team on the radio. “I feel so (expletive) bad.”

His crew radioed back: “Stuff happens. You did a great job for your debut.”

Cup drivers in Trucks Race

Among those running in Saturday’s race were drivers slated to race in Cup on Sunday. Their vehicles will be significantly different, but the experience was something they counted on helping them.

Joey Logano, last year’s Bristol dirt Cup winner, finished sixth, followed by Chase Elliott in seventh. Austin Dillon finished 14th and Harrison Burton finished 20th.

Track conditions and dusting looked fairly under control during the night event, with drivers commenting that visibility was better during this year’s races compared to last year. Cole Custer is starting on the pole after earning the most points throughout the heat portion of the Cup race, with Bell starting in the front row with him.

We’ll see if Bell’s scouting on Saturday pays off behind the wheel Sunday, or if whether any drivers in both races finish out front tomorrow.

NASCAR Truck Series race results

This story was originally published April 16, 2022 at 6:02 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription