Q. Second time in three years you’re on this stage celebrating a championship. You had to sweat this one out a lot —
BEN RHODES: They all are.
Q. How does it feel compared to the first time around?
BEN RHODES: Oh, just as good.
Look, the first one wasn’t relief because I was down and out, and we somehow made it back on a green flag run.
Now I was just stressing for 25 laps in overtime, messed up hood, transmission not shifting properly, wheels knocked out of whack, and here comes Grant on new tires.
Thanks to him for racing me clean. I think we all raced each other very well tonight. I just love it. This is great. Thank you to Duke and Rhonda Thorson, ThorSport Racing. This is a fantastic organization. We’ve got Kubota; we’ve got Campers Inn RV, Farm Paint. We’ve got so many great partners on this team. Not to mention Ford Performance, not to forget them. They’re awesome.
We’ve built a heck of a program, or Duke and Rhonda have over the years, I guess. It’s been around longer than I’ve been around, so I’m just proud to be a part of it.
Q. We saw what the celebration looked like two years ago. How will the celebration tonight compare to that one?
BEN RHODES: You just hang on, Mamma Jamma, you’re about to find out.
NASCAR PR
