Ben Rhodes Gets The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Race Hat Trick In The Pensacola 150

Ben Rhodes rolls down victory lane for the third NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race in a row in his Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet Impala

Ben Rhodes won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Five Flags Speedway in Florida. It was his third win in a row in the K&N Pro Series East.

Cameron Hayley, in the number 98 Cabinets by Hayley Chevrolet, passed Ben Rhodes half way through the race to lead 20 laps before finishing third in the Pensacola 150

If he keeps it up, Rhodes will race into some rare company.

Rhodes, a rookie in the K&N Pro Series East, has a 55-point lead in the East Series standings after eight races, the halfway point in the season.

Only three other drivers have won the K&N Pro Series East championship as a rookie. They are Kyle Larson, Ryan Truex and Joey Logano, all drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

“I never would have thought we’d have such a good season,” said Rhodes, driver of the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet. “I’ve been building on top of all that. It makes my feedback better. Even though we only had 45 minutes of practice and this was my first time seeing the track, we did a good job tuning the car.”

The Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet Impala, driven by Ben Rhodes, led 50 laps and won the race at Five Flags Speedway with a .985 second margin over second place

Rhodes led the final 16 laps of the Pensacola 150 to win his fourth race of the season. Cameron Hayley took the lead in the race at the halfway point. He passed Rhodes, who dropped to fourth in the early part of the second half of the race. Rhodes moved back out front on a restart late in the race.

“Trying to save tires is always tough,” said Rhodes. “You don’t know if you’re going to get any breaks at the end. … Once you start saving you just hope you can get a break to get back up there or you have enough tire to run back up there. And I was trying to do both.”

Brandon Jones made a late charge to pass Hayley and finish in second place.

Grey Gaulding won the pole position with the fastest qualifying time and led 80 laps of the Pensacola 150 in his Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Chevrolet Impala

“We kind of saved too much, honestly, in the beginning,” Jones said. “And the end. I saw (Hayley) getting sideways off the corner. (Crew chief) Shane (Huffman) kept getting on me to drive straight off the corners and not spin the tires on exit. I think we were just getting more drive off and fortunately got him there at the end.”

Hayley, who led for 20 laps and was out front as late as lap 133, crossed the finish line in third place.

“Obviously it’s not what we wanted. We wanted to go out there and get the win,” Hayley said. “At that point, we had so many cars that had burned their tires off. I knew I had burned mine off a little bit more than everybody else getting to that lead but I knew I had them. I had them and that caution really hurt us a lot.”

Kenzie Ruston, who cut a tire and fell a lap down in the race, came back for a fourth-place finish.

Grey Gaulding, who led a race-high 80 laps and won the pole, his second of the season, finished in fifth place.

Hayley moved into third place in the K&N Pro Series East standings. He is 10 points behind Gaulding and three points ahead of Jones.