Ben Rhodes has a solid 71-point gap to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase cut line with five races left in the regular season, but the two-time series champion isn’t letting his guard down.
“Not relaxing one bit,” Rhodes said Wednesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “It’s quite funny that we were second in points. We were trying to take the lead, we had our sights on the lead.”
Rhodes was second in the standings after race 3 at St. Petersburg on Feb. 28 but hasn’t been inside the top five since after Texas on May 1. The Louisville, Kentucky, native is searching for consistency, as he has three top 10s over the last seven races.
Ben Rhodes not relaxing at all
“Things out of our control, a few parts failures, a few incidents and we find ourselves back in seventh,” Rhodes said. “That just wasn’t that way not that long ago. Definitely not relaxing, definitely very focused on the big picture and getting points.”
Rhodes is also looking to break a 75-race winless drought dating back to Charlotte in May 2023 going into Saturday’s race at Lime Rock Park. The final five races of the regular season offer a short track-heavy schedule. Saturday’s road course event will be followed by four short track races at North Wilkesboro, Indianapolis Raceway Park, Richmond and New Hampshire before the Chase opens at another short track in Bristol on Sept. 17.