Protégé Rhodes impresses Junior
SPARTA, KY. Ben Rhodes won’t make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut until next month, but the 18-year-old already has attended a number of races this season, hovering over the No. 88 team with which he’ll work 10 times this year.
Rhodes’ team owner — and NASCAR’s most popular driver — has come away plenty impressed.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he’d like to bring on Rhodes for a full season next year in the secondtier circuit — “in a perfect world,” of course.
“He’s an exceptional young man, very well-mannered and well-spoken, and has a great opportunity to be successful as a driver but also represent his partners well,” Earnhardt said. “He seems to really understand the importance of being the whole package. He’s really doing a lot when it comes to being accountable at the races, standing around and trying to be a sponge for the information that’s available to him while we’re practicing.”
The Louisville native enters this year off a championship season in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series East, a developmental circuit. He also led laps in his big-track debut last fall in Kentucky Speedway’s ARCA Racing Series event and finished fifth at Phoenix International Raceway in a Camping World Truck Series race.
JR Motorsports’ 2015 Xfinity Series lineup consists of mainstay Regan Smith in the No. 7, defending champion Chase Elliott in the No. 9 and Rhodes and Sprint Cup Series drivers Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne splitting time in the No. 88.
Next year, Elliott will succeed Jeff Gordon, who is retiring from full-time racing in the No. 24 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports.
If sponsorship is there for Rhodes, the opportunity to go full time in the Xfinity Series could be, too.
“I’ve seen him at every (Xfinity Series) race I’ve been at,” Earnhardt said. “When I drove this year, he’s in the garage asking questions. Between runs, he’s listening and asking questions and very inquisitive. It’s genuine. He really wants to be as prepared as possible, and we want to get him every opportunity we can. We feel like giving him that opportunity will let him succeed.”
Rhodes’ Xfinity Series debut comes May 17 at Iowa Speedway, the same weekend as his graduation from Holy Cross High School. He also is booked for the Sept. 26 race at Kentucky Speedway but hasn’t secured a deal to drive when the circuit visits his home state in July.