Ben Rhodes readies sneak attack on other Truck Series contenders
Defending champion Ben Rhodes is the stealth bomber of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
In 2021, Rhodes passed Zane Smith with eight laps left in the title race at Phoenix and finished third to Smith‘s fifth to secure his first series championship.
Last year, Rhodes began the seven-race Playoffs in seventh place with 13 Playoff points to his credit. He survived two Playoff rounds and won his second title with a fifth-place finish to Grant Enfinger‘s sixth in a wild shootout in the Sonoran Desert.
This season, Rhodes heads to Sunday‘s Playoff opener at the Milwaukee Mile with two Playoff points, one marker below the current cutoff for the Round of 8. Though he hasn‘t won a race or a stage this season, the driver of the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford remains unfazed.
“Just the fact that we‘ve done it, I think that‘s going to tell us that we can do it again,” Rhodes said on Tuesday during a media day Zoom call with Truck Series Playoff drivers.
“We have the blueprint. We‘ve done it twice. We‘ve done it when our backs (have) been against the wall. We‘ve done it when we‘ve had to get in on tiebreakers, where we‘ve had to do crazy strategy and get in on a point.
“We‘ve been put through the crucible, we‘ve gone through the ringer, and somehow we still found a way to make it to the next round. I can truly say the pressure doesn‘t get to us at all. If we make any mistakes, it will just be from sheer incompetence, not from nervousness of feeling any sort of pressure.”
Corey Heim eager to return to Championship 4 race at Phoenix
Last year, Corey Heim‘s Playoff effort was remarkably consistent—until he and his No. 11 Toyota team got to the season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Heim started on the pole as the championship favorite but tangled twice with fellow Playoff driver Carson Hocevar and finished 18th. NASCAR penalized Heim for retaliating against Hocevar in the second incident, dropping Heim to fourth in the final standings.
Entering Sunday‘s race at the Milwaukee Mile as the No. 1 seed in this year‘s Playoffs, Heim is eager to return to Phoenix with a chance to win the championship that eluded him last year.
“I feel like we probably deserved to win the championship last year,” Heim said. “We certainly had the speed and executed everything right and didn‘t win it.
“I know we‘re capable of doing that this year, as long as we execute just like we did last year, but I feel that we‘ve got a better race team. I‘ve got a lot of confidence in my TRICON Garage Toyota Racing group and I‘ve got a lot of confidence in myself.
“I know that we are very well and capable of it. Certainly, eager and looking forward to having that opportunity again.”
For Regular Season Champion Christian Eckes, it‘s all or nothing
After heartbreak at Homestead-Miami Speedway last year, Christian Eckes takes an all-or-nothing mentality into the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs this season.
A disappointing 20th-place finish at the South Florida track knocked Eckes out of the Playoffs by a mere four points.
Eckes went on to win the Championship 4 race at Phoenix two weeks later—but without Championship eligibility.
This year, Eckes won‘t be satisfied with anything less than a title.
“Based off of last year, I feel like it is championship or bust,” Eckes told reporters on Tuesday during a media day Zoom call. “I think everything we‘ve done this year in preparation has kind of led toward that being the mentality.”
A model of consistency, Eckes has posted three victories and 15 top 10s in 16 races this season. He already has identified a hurdle to cross on the way to Phoenix.
“Not choke in the Round of 8—is that a fair assessment?” Eckes said with a laugh. “I‘ve done that the last two years. Just execution—that‘s the biggest thing.”
Red-hot Ty Majeski gets a home game in Playoff opener
Winner of the final two NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regular-season races, Ty Majeski enters the Playoffs with colossal momentum.
Not only that—the Seymour, Wisconsin, native gets to run Sunday‘s postseason opener on his “home” track, the Milwaukee Mile Speedway.
“It‘s nice to have a Wisconsin race on the NASCAR schedule,” Majeski said. “It‘s such a honey hole and a great demographic for NASCAR fans and race fans in general…
“Obviously, it‘s very special to go and kick off the Playoffs in Milwaukee, a track that‘s special to me. I‘ve gotten to win there a couple of times. Yeah, it would be a huge deal to go there and run well for not only myself but for (crew chief) Joe Shear Jr.
“That would be his NASCAR home track, so to speak, as well. So, yeah, excited to go back there, and hopefully we can carry our momentum.”
Majeski enters the Playoffs as the No. 3 seed, 21 points above the current cut line.
— NASCAR Wire Service —
