(Photo: Cole Penning | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Despite tire issues and finishing two laps off the pace, Ben Rhodes limped home to a 25th-place finish and narrowly avoided elimination in the first round of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs. Matt DiBenedetto, who finished third, missed the Round of 8 by five points.
Rhodes recorded two finishes of 16th to start the playoffs, chalking up the first round as one of the worst of his career.
“I was working hard, but that’s part of it. You have those nights,” Rhodes explained after Friday’s race. “I would say this is probably my worst first round that I’ve had, but I’ve had some that will rival it and I’ve had some races in the playoffs that will rival this one.”
Rhodes started Friday’s Kansas Lottery 200 in sixth and managed to score four points in Stage 2 with a seventh-place finish. But as Stage 3 began, things started to head downhill for the 26-year-old from Louisville, Kentucky. He originally believed he had a tire issue and kept going, but eventually slapped the wall and came down pit road for unexpected service.
“Maybe I overstepped my bounds, I don’t know,” Rhodes said. “I’ve got to go talk to the guys and see if there was something with the right-rear tire going down. That’s what I thought it was when I initially felt it, but obviously, I was able to keep going, so it wouldn’t have been that sudden. Probably a mistake by me.”
Meanwhile, DiBenedetto continued to craft his way through the field and found himself in position for a strong finish in the closing laps. He ended up with a third-place finish, tying his best result of the season.
However, under the circumstances, DiBenedetto had to win to transfer to the next round. He started off the playoffs with a 10th-place finish at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and finished 25th at Milwaukee Mile, entering the cutoff race at 17 points below Rhodes.
It was a bittersweet ending for DiBenedetto, who announced he won’t return to Rackley WAR in 2024. DiBenedetto brought the team to the playoffs for the first time in its history this season and won its first race last season at Talladega Superspeedway.
DiBenedetto during Friday’s Kansas Lottery 200. (Photo: Cole Penning | The Podium Finish)
“I’ve just been thankful to be racing in the trucks and having this opportunity in this ride,” DiBenedetto said. “I just kind of feel like I’m in a rebuilding stage of my career, and I’ve made plenty of mistakes that I regret so much, but I’m not going to go back and redo stuff. Everything happens for a reason … I just feel a little drained. It’s odd. I don’t really have a lot of words. I’ve been kind of a little numb, to be honest.
“I want to get my second win before this season’s over. I want to go two years in a row getting wins for this race team.”
Matt Crafton failed to transfer out of the Round of 10 for the second consecutive season, finishing 11 points below the cutline. He had a frustrating day from start to finish — crashing a truck in practice and going to a backup. In the race, he hit the wall and lost two laps before blowing a tire and making a second unscheduled stop. He finished 33rd, nine laps off the pace.
Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger and Christian Eckes all won their way into the Round of 8. Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith, Nick Sanchez and Rhodes all pointed their way in.
(Note: Brooklyn Jackson contributed on-site from Kansas Speedway)
