Rhodes Captures 1st K&N Pro East Crown
Hill Takes Kevin Whitaker 140 Checkered Flag At Greenville
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Ben Rhodes entered the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140 needing to finish at least 13th to clinch his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East crown, he did nine spots better.
The 17-year-old Louisville, Kentucky, native earned his 11th top-five finish of the season, crossing the Greenville Pickens Speedway finish line fourth and clinching his first series title in the process. Fellow NASCAR Next driver Austin Hill earned his first victory of the season and second of his career.
“It means a lot to see this year to come together like it has,” said Rhodes. “This is what we set out to do in the beginning of the year.
“I can’t thank Alpha Energy Solutions enough; Turner Scott Motorsports; and all the guys on our team for everything they’ve done. They’ve been behind us 100 percent this year. A lot of hard work has gone into it.
“And I’m just finally glad it’s all come together and the load has been lifted. We can now just go to Dover and focus on the win.”
Rhodes is in his second year as a member of the NASCAR Next program, an industry initiative designed to identify and spotlight the sport’s rising young stars. He joins current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Joey Logano, Ryan Truex and Kyle Larson as drivers who have won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championships their rookie year in the series.
“It’s amazing to be around so many great names of the sport,” Rhodes said. “I can’t believe I’m part of it. It hasn’t sunk in yet, and I don’t think it will for a long time. Probably not until the (NASCAR Touring Series Night of Champions in December).”
Hill led the last 58 laps in his No. 22 A&D Welding/Don Rich Ford, and edged Cameron Hayley, Rhodes’ nearest championship challenger, for the checkered flag.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been in Victory Lane,” said Hill. “I would have really thought we’d get a win before now, but better late than never I guess. … These guys here, I wouldn’t trade them for the world. They did a heck of a job.”
VIDEO: AUSTIN HILL TALKS ABOUT HIS WIN
For Hayley, it’s his fifth runner-up finish and seventh top five of the season.
Gray Gaulding crossed the line third, followed by Rhodes and Nick Drake.
“We did all we could,” said Hayley, who led twice for 55 laps. “We really wanted to win that race, but after the break got hung out on the outside and hurt my tires a bit. … I’m tired of finishing second, but at the same time, a great run by our Cabinets by Hayley team.”
Said Gaulding, who led 27 laps: “We were just riding, riding, riding because Greenville Pickens is so hard on the tires. We paced ourselves; led laps. And I let the 22 (Austin Hill) go, and I thought I’d get a caution. Not very often you don’t get a caution with about 10 laps to go. If we’d gotten another caution, I think we’d be in Victory Lane.
“But at the end of the day, we’re going to go back to the shop, work on it, get better and better and go for the championship next year.”
Hill was third at the Lap 70 halfway break. He took second on Lap 80 and powered into the lead on Lap 83.
“I told the guys, this 20 (Gaulding) and this 98 (Hayley) have a real good hot rod,” Hill said. “They’re able to get off the corner a lot better than I am, and they’re beating me down the straightaway.
“During that halfway break, I came in and said, ‘guys we’re going to have to take a real big swing at it if we’re going to have a shot at winning.’ And they did. They had a really big swing at it, and once they did, I took off.
A caution on Lap 124 bunched the field again. Hill, however, was able to pull away on the restart. He beat Hayley to the line by 1.023 seconds.
“I thought I was pushing it too hard,” Hill said. “When we had that caution, I was a little bit worried. When we went back green, and I saw (Hayley) getting smaller and smaller in my window, I knew that we had a really good car.
Rhodes picked up his first K&N Pro East win at Greenville in March, the first of five wins — including four in a row — that gave him an insurmountable points lead.
Rhodes’ No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet was fastest in practice and he won his sixth 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Light Saturday afternoon. But a miscue at the start of the race nearly cost him dearly. Rhodes was black-flagged for jumping the race’s initial start and instructed by NASCAR officials to serve a pass through penalty.
He barely came out in front of the leaders to stay on the lead lap. He quickly began to work his way back to the front on the flat half-mile track.
“I put myself in a really bad position early on, made a mistake and went to the back, and had to focus a little big on points racing and get myself up there,” said Rhodes, who was seventh at the break. “I made the wrong decision at the halfway break for setup and I learned from that. I think if I didn’t do that we had the car to beat.”
Brennan Newberry, Brandon Jones, Ryan Gifford, Jesse Little and Will Burns rounded out the top 10.
Rhodes holds a 62-point lead over Hayley heading into the season finale. Jones is third, 20 points behind Hayley and just two points ahead of Gaulding and four points ahead of Little.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will wrap-up its 2014 season at Dover (Delaware) International Speedway on Friday, Sept. 26, for the Drive Sober 150.
RESULTS | LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | AUDIO: CHAMPION BEN RHODES | AUDIO: RACE WINNER AUSTIN HILL | AUDIO: RUNNER-UP CAMERON HAYLEY | AUDIO: THIRD PLACE GRAY GAULDING
Sources: NASCAR PR