Matt DiBenedetto Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Halfway through last season, Matt DiBenedetto made the choice to bet on himself if he was going to have any future in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The Grass Valley, Calif. native announced he was leaving Go Fas Racing, the team he had been with for the two seasons prior, without a place to land for the 2019 season. That gamble could pay off in spades if this season goes to plan. Not long after he made the decision to lookRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Leavine Family Racing took another step toward their future on Wednesday as the team announced they would be swapping manufacturers to Toyota and bringing Matt DiBenedetto on board to drive their No. 95 Camry in 2019. Since first joining the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ranks in 2011, LFR has run with both Ford and Chevrolet, but the new announcement will put them in some of the best equipment they’ve had to date, as the deal includes a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing. “We’re thrilledRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor INDIANAPOLIS – Matt DiBenedetto shocked the NASCAR world on Thursday with news that he would be leaving Go Fas Racing, his home for the last two years, to seek opportunities elsewhere for the 2019 season. Of all of the silly season dominoes to fall, DiBenedetto’s news was unexpected to say the least, but as his announcement on Twitter stated, he believes the move is the correct one for his career going forward, especially as other young drivers are getting opportunities elsewhere and advancing their careers forRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – When it comes to restrictor plate racing, the smaller teams in the NASCAR garage always circle these races as opportunities to capitalize. On Saturday night at Daytona, Matt DiBenedetto and Go Fas Racing placed themselves square in the middle of the action, bringing home a seventh-place finish by the time the checkered flag flew. “The Fords always run really good at the speedways, so that’s why we always seem to find ourselves up front at the end,” said DiBenedetto. “Fords and Roush-YatesRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor TALLADEGA, Alabama – If there’s one thing that is always a constant at the restrictor plate tracks of Talladega and Daytona, it’s that smaller budget teams can be right in the mix with the larger teams of the sport, jockeying for position at the front of the field and giving themselves a shot to pull off the upset and win. Heading into Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega, Go Fas Racing and driver Matt DiBenedetto should be a combination to watch as the No. 32 FordRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Go Fas Racing and Matt DiBenedetto have found themselves in sponsorship trouble heading into Sunday’s race at ISM Raceway, but the NASCAR community has banded together to make sure they will make it to the grid for the TicketGuardian 500. Starting with a tweet from DiBenedetto on Tuesday morning, alerting the world of their predicament, the effort started picking up steam, with fellow drivers and others in the sport pitching in to help out the small team make it to the track. Though Go FasRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Restrictor plate racing is a strategic game, requiring critical thinking to make the right moves. A few days removed from Sunday’s Daytona 500 and it has dawned on me how frustrating this current era of racing has become. What happened to the word patience? The days of strategizing your move without causing a junkyard is gone. Part of this has to do with three things — stage racing, the demand of winning the Great American Race at an all-time high, or just a generational problem.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Have the Can-Am Duels at Daytona outlived their usefulness? The evidence certainly seems to point that way. Since the outset of the Daytona 500, qualifying for the biggest race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has been a mix of single car qualifying for the front row and qualifying races to set the remainder of the field. In seasons past, with more cars entered than the field allowed, the two qualifying races held the Thursday before the 500 have been full of dramaRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPEEDWAY, Ind. — In semi-darkness, as the sun set behind the frontstretch grandstand at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kasey Kahne did all he could to dispel the shadow overhanging his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season and his racing career. With a phenomenal restart in the second overtime of Sunday’s Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400, Kahne cleared race leader Brad Keselowski through the first two corners and crossed the overtime line on the backstretch before NASCAR called the record 14th caution of the race. ThatRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into Saturday night’s race at Kentucky Speedway, there were a lot of unknowns with the newly repaved and reconfigured track surface, but it didn’t take long for the track to claim its first victims. Jimmie Johnson, who had never won at Kentucky in five previous starts, had troubles with the track from the time his No. 48 team unloaded, spinning out and crashing his primary car in practice and having to break out his backup car for the race. Though Johnson would be ableRead More