Ben Rhodes has been quiet but steady in 2022. (Photo: Cody Porter | The Podium Finish)
AVONDALE, Ariz. – NASCAR Camping World Truck Champion, Ben Rhodes, will enter the Championship Round 4 at Phoenix Raceway as an underdog.
Ty Majeski, Rhodes’ teammate, is the odds-on favorite to bring home the Truck championship on Friday night (10 p.m. ET on FS1 and MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR).
Though Rhodes holds the underdog status, he likes his chances to win Friday.
“I think (our chances are) pretty good honestly,” Rhodes said. “I’ve told people that I think Ty (Majeski) is the favorite, but I don’t count myself out at all. Our team just performs when it needs to, and we’ve done that.”
Throughout Rhodes’ seven years of driving full-time in the Truck series, he has advanced to the Truck Series Playoffs on five occasions, namely 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2022.
However, Rhodes has only advanced to the Round of 4 once – last year.
And what a memorable night it was as Rhodes’s post-race interview has been replayed often, fueled by dehydration and Bud Light.
Not being the favorite to win is a familiar spot to Rhodes as he feels he is in the same position he was in last year.
“Honestly, I think we were the longshot last year too,” Rhodes said. ” I think we’re going to rise to the occasion just like we did last year and just like we did to get ourselves in this position.”
Rhodes added, “It’s very easy to make mistakes in high-pressure situations like that so I think the fact that we’ve already had to be forged in fire has given us a little bit of an advantage so kind of like we’ve been here, done that. I’m not going to say that one year is the same as the next because it’s definitely not.”
Winning the Truck championship last year has fueled his desire to win again, and the emotion and raw happiness of that win have become an addiction that he feels like he cannot live without.
Citing tire management as his strong suit last year, the team has kept the setup very similar to the winning Toyota Tundra from last year but with a few improvements for this race at Phoenix.
Rhodes was full-time championship chasing and also part-time journalist on Thursday. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
“We are trying to keep that strong point intact of long-run speed but fire off better. There’s some stuff we’re doing underneath the truck, suspension-wise, to try to make that happen,” he remarked.
The team feels like they have set themselves up for a good run for the Lucas Oil 150 on Friday night as they will rely on the package that worked last year with a few adjustments. Practice allowed them to feel it out and understand if they got it right.
Moreover, Rhodes has the ability to fall back on the knowledge from his teammates.
Coming into the Championship race with only one win early (Bristol Dirt) in the 2022 season, consistency is what put Rhodes in the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ Championship 4 battle. Mainly, Rhodes transferred to the final round via points in the elimination race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Grateful to be advancing to the Championship round, Rhodes is philosophical about the way this accomplishment has been achieved.
Perhaps Rhodes will channel his best Aryton Senna in terms of a second championship. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
“I believe this is a quote from Senna and I’m going to paraphrase a little bit, but ‘The road to greatness is always rough.’ So, it doesn’t bother me at all and I’m happy to be back in the Championship 4 and the fact that ThorSport Racing is in there with two trucks,” he shared.
The road to the repeat is not going to be smooth and Rhodes knows he has to get by two other very tough Tundras.
“The 18 (Chandler Smith) is going to be tough as long as they don’t overcomplicate things and they pull from their playbook last year, they should be fairly consistent to what they were last year, and they were really, really fast. The 66 (Ty Majeski) is going to be really fast because this track is kind of in their wheelhouse,” Rhodes said.
Editor’s Notes
Luis Torres contributed to this feature on-site from Phoenix and Avondale, Arizona.
