Rhodes left wanting despite K&N Pro Series win

NEWTON — When NASCAR K&N Pro Series driver Ben Rhodes crossed the finish line to win his second career Pro Series race on Saturday night at Iowa Speedway, he had something in mind.

He wanted to do his first burnout.

The only problem: crew chief Mark McFarland said absolutely not.

'I wanted too,' Rhodes said through a chuckle after winning the Casey's General Stores 250. '(McFarland) was like, 'No. No. If you do I will come out there and beat you up if you do that. You can earn it if you win the championship later in the year.'

'So it sounds like I've got my work cut out for me to do a burnout.'

Rhodes had the dominant car for most of the night last night en route to his first win this season.

He had to fight off Turner-Scott Motorsports teammate Scott Heckert, who finished third, after the halfway break at 75 laps, but otherwise it was smooth sailing.

The 2014 NASCAR Next class member went back and forth after the race about whether or not this was the best race-winning car he's ever driven.

'I don't know. Well, yeah, it's pretty close,' Rhodes said, trying to make up his mind. 'I guess it was. It just had speed. The track really came to us there at the end.

'We had a fast car. It's hard to say because I don't know if we had that much better car or if other people were just struggling. It was close to where I wanted it, but it wasn't perfect.'

Rhodes spent the first half of the race battling with Brodie Kostecki for the lead. Kostecki fell out with 72 laps to go after a wreck involving several cars, starting when Cole Custer and Cameron Hayley made contact.

Nick Drake finished second, and barely missed the multicar wreck.

The race was a combination event between the K&N Pro Series East and West divisions. David Mayhew was credited with the West series victory, finishing ninth overall.

The next race for the East series is on May 31 at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. The next race for the West series is May 24 at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, Calif.

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