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Jim Utter

Ben Rhodes takes Charlotte Truck win and $50,000 bonus

Rhodes, 26, had to overcome a sub-par qualifying effort but had moved into the lead for the first time on Lap 89 of 134.

A late-race wreck involving Kris Wright and Tyler Ankrum bunched the field with Carson Hocevar in the lead, but Rhodes quickly powered back to the front on the restart with 24 laps to go and never looked back.

Rhodes, the 2021 series champion, held off Corey Heim by 2.398 seconds to earn his first win of the 2023 season, which locks him into the series playoffs. He also collected a $50,000 bonus as the winner of the first of three races making up this season’s Triple Truck Challenge.

“I don’t really know to be honest with you,” Rhodes said when asked his truck got so much better at the end of the race. “I didn’t think we were that good in practice and we didn’t qualify the best.

“It came to life at night. I had so much fun. Charlotte is a track we come to, ThorSport Racing, we’re based in Sandusky, Ohio, we come to the North Carolina guys’ house and we like to win.

“The whole season is so hard to put together and it’s only been getting more difficult over the years. The harder I try I feel the harder it is to win a race.”

Dean Thompson ended up third, Hocevar was fourth despite reporting a possible tire problem in the final laps and Grant Enfinger was fifth.

Completing the top-10 were Christian Eckes, Christian Eckes, Matt DiBenedetto, Nick Sanchez and Taylor Gray.

Stage 1

Heim held off a fast-approaching Hocevar by 0.146 seconds to claim the Stage 1 win. Thompson was third, Rajah Caruth was fourth and Zane Smith rallied from 14th to fifth.

Tyler Ankrum (engine change) and Sanchez (unapproved adjustments) both had to start the race from the rear of the field.

Stage 2

Hocevar got around Heim with 15 of 30 laps remaining and cruised to the Stage 2 win.

Thompson ended up third, Smith was fourth and Stewart Friesen rounded out the top five.

Stage 3

Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, the lead-lap trucks all pit with Heim first off of pit road. Caruth (crew member over the wall too soon) and Tanner Gray (did not beat pace car off pit road) had to restart from the rear of the field.

On the restart on Lap 69, Heim was followed by Hocevar and Taylor Gray. Six laps later, Hocevar ran down Heim and reclaimed the lead.

Armani Williams wrecked off Turn 4 while trying to enter pit road which placed the race under caution on Lap 82.

Now in the fuel window to make it to the end of the race, all the lead-lap trucks pit under the caution with Chase Purdy first off pit road thanks to a fuel-only stop. The race returned to green on Lap 90.

Smith got loose off Turn 4 on the restart and triggered a multi-truck incident that also collected Caruth and Hailie Deegan to bring out the fourth caution of the race. Rhodes led the way on the restart with 38 laps remaining.

Five laps later, Hocevar caught Rhodes and passed him to move back into the lead.

Kris Wright and Tyler Ankrum wrecked on the backstretch with 30 laps remaining to bunch the field again.

Hocevar led Rhodes and Heim on the restart only to see Rhodes quickly power around him and back to the lead with 24 laps to go.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Laps Led
1 99 United States Ben Rhodes Ford 134 1:43'09.649     37
2 11 Corey Heim Toyota 134 1:43'12.047 2.398 2.398 49
3 5 Dean Thompson Toyota 134 1:43'12.231 2.582 0.184  
4 42 Carson Hocevar Chevrolet 134 1:43'12.484 2.835 0.253 43
5 23 United States Grant Enfinger Chevrolet 134 1:43'12.846 3.197 0.362  
6 19 United States Christian Eckes Chevrolet 134 1:43'14.120 4.471 1.274  
7 98 United States Ty Majeski Ford 134 1:43'14.471 4.822 0.351  
8 25 United States Matt DiBenedetto Chevrolet 134 1:43'14.538 4.889 0.067  
9 2 Nicholas Sanchez Chevrolet 134 1:43'16.109 6.460 1.571  
10 17 Taylor Gray Toyota 134 1:43'18.033 8.384 1.924  
11 24 Rajah Caruth Chevrolet 134 1:43'19.848 10.199 1.815  
12 88 United States Matt Crafton Ford 134 1:43'20.946 11.297 1.098  
13 41 United States Bayley Currey Chevrolet 134 1:43'21.166 11.517 0.220  
14 1 United States David Gilliland Toyota 134 1:43'21.212 11.563 0.046  
15 35 Jake Garcia Chevrolet 134 1:43'22.768 13.119 1.556  
16 4 United States Chase Purdy Chevrolet 134 1:43'23.157 13.508 0.389 2
17 45 Alan Lawless Chevrolet 134 1:43'26.184 16.535 3.027  
18 51 Jack Wood Chevrolet 134 1:43'26.422 16.773 0.238  
19 43 Daniel Dye Chevrolet 134 1:43'27.674 18.025 1.252  
20 9 Colby Howard Chevrolet 134 1:43'28.846 19.197 1.172  
21 32 Bret Holmes Chevrolet 134 1:43'31.209 21.560 2.363  
22 52 United States Stewart Friesen Toyota 134 1:43'31.491 21.842 0.282  
23 38 Zane Smith Ford 134 1:43'31.756 22.107 0.265  
24 56 Tyler Hill Toyota 134 1:43'32.781 23.132 1.025  
25 22 Mason Maggio Ford 134 1:43'33.163 23.514 0.382  
26 30 United States Ryan Vargas Toyota 134 1:43'42.296 32.647 9.133  
27 15 United States Tanner Gray Toyota 133 1:43'11.166 1 Lap 1 Lap 3
28 16 United States Tyler Ankrum Toyota 132 1:43'30.572 2 Laps 1 Lap  
29 33 United States Josh Reaume Ford 131 1:43'16.378 3 Laps 1 Lap  
30 20 United States Matt Mills Chevrolet 131 1:43'25.506 3 Laps 9.128  
31 12 United States Spencer Boyd Chevrolet 131 1:43'45.124 3 Laps 19.618  
32 02 United States Kris Wright Chevrolet 130 1:43'24.927 4 Laps 1 Lap  
33 13 United States Hailie Deegan Ford 128 1:43'27.482 6 Laps 2 Laps  
34 90 Justin S Toyota 122 1:43'28.441 12 Laps 6 Laps  
35 46 United States Armani Williams Toyota 65 54'35.858 69 Laps 57 Laps  
36 34 Keith McGee Ford 20 11'09.673 114 Laps 45 Laps  
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