Ben Rhodes on Pole: Starting Lineup for Richmond NASCAR Truck Series Race

Published 04/15/2021, 5:54 AM EDT

This weekend, the NASCAR Truck Series drivers will be racing at the Richmond Raceway. Of course, because of the severe restrictions, NASCAR is once again resorting to its special formula for deciding the grid. For this weekend, Ben Rhodes is going to start on pole position. Alongside him on the front row will be Austin Hill in the #16 truck with Grant Enfinger and Stewart Friesen behind them.

Raphael Lessard will complete the top five, with Zane Smith alongside him in sixth place. Completing the top 10 will be Matt Crafton, Todd Gilliland, Sheldon Creed and Austin Wayne Self. Just outside the Top 10 are Tanner Gray and Kyle Busch, who is taking over the wheel of the #51 truck.

Rhodes on the pole for the truck race Saturday afternoon at Richmond ⁦@NASCARONFOX⁩ pic.twitter.com/xKA7KtCKKN
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 14, 2021

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Additionally, Carson Hocevar and Hailie Deegan will share the seventh row in 13th and 14th place, respectively. Lining up behind them will be Chase Purdy and Ryan Truex. Rounding out the Top 20 drivers will beBrett Moffitt, John Hunter Nemechek, Johnny Sauter and Codie Rohrbaugh.

How does the rest of the Truck Series field line up?

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Cory Roper and Kris Wright wind up outside the Top 20, with Chandler Smith and Tate Fogleman behind them. Row 13 boasts of an all Spencer row, with Davis ahead of Boyd. Timothy Peters, Donny Bohn, Derek Kraus, and Tyler Ankrum make up the Top 30 drivers.

Meanwhile, Dawson Cram, Keith McGee, Jennifer Jo Cobb and Timmy Hill will make up the next two rows. Finally, Howie DiSavino III, Jett Noland, Josh Reaume, Norm Benning, Ray Ciccarelli, and Sam Mayer will bring up the rear. Surprisingly, there were no Truck Series drivers that failed to qualify for the race.

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This race will be Rhodes’ best chance to snatch the championship lead. Considering that John Hunter Nemechek crashed out last time out at Bristol, Rhodes has a chance to make up lost ground. Nemechek, unfortunately, has a tough challenge ahead of him, starting all the way down in 18th place.

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.