Stephen Rhodes (born March 27, 1984) is an American stock car racing driver. A former competitor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, he is seeking to return to competition in the sport. When he made his debut in 2003, he became the first openly gay driver to compete in a NASCAR national touring series event.
Personal life
Rhodes was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he attended Rosewood High School.[1] Rhodes is openly gay.[2] He came out at age seventeen, one year before he made his NASCAR Truck Series debut.[3] He co-owned Brown Bag Cafe and Matchbox Restaurant & Bar in Goldsboro with his now ex-husband, Andy Mitchell.[2] They were married in Manhattan on July 3, 2013.[4]
Rhodes was the first openly gay driver to compete in NASCAR's national touring series.[7] Rhodes later returned to the NASCAR Late Model Stock Division at SNMP, where he competed until 2010.[2][3] In July 2013, Rhodes stated that he was seeking to return to full-time competition in the renamed Camping World Truck Series in 2014.[7]
In popular media
Rhodes is featured in the cover story for the "Ride Review" issue of Lavender Magazine (March 19–April 1, 2015).[8]
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
