Matt DiBenedetto Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor There have been some interesting race sponsorship names in the past, but Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway certainly tops them all – and will no doubt garner many laughs along the way. A result of a contest by Busch Beer to support American farmers, fans that donated to the cause were able to put in a name for the race, which would eventually be whittled down to four finalists. The choices came down to The Busch Latte 400, Nectar of the Cobs 400,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega was déjà vu all over again for Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team. In a repeat of the race last Fall at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, DiBenedetto was leading on the final lap in overtime only to see another driver snatch victory from his grasp, leaving him wondering what else he could have done to turn the tide in his favor to finally break through and win a NASCAR Cup Series race. DiBenedetto was a constant fixture atRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Despite sustaining damage in an early wreck, and despite leading only one lap in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski nailed down an opportunistic overtime victory in the 10th event of the NASCAR Cup Series season. Surging to the front on the final lap, after fellow Ford driver Matt DiBenedetto abandoned the bottom lane and gave Keselowski a clear run to the front, Keselowski claimed his first victory of the season, the 35th of his career and his sixth at Talladega, tyingRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service An emotional Alex Bowman could only shake his head and give kudos to the crew of his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet following a dramatic victory over Denny Hamlin Sunday in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway. Bowman took the lead for the first time all race on a restart with 10 laps remaining and easily pulled away from Hamlin, who had been the day’s most dominant driver. Bowman’s .381-second winning margin earned the 27-year old his first victory of the season, thirdRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Both Matt DiBenedetto and Wood Brothers Racing are entering the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season with mesmerizing confidence and ready to win races. There’s a catch, it’ll be their final season together as Austin Cindric will take over the No. 21 Ford Mustang in 2022. Momentum is on his side as his mental strength was strengthened following a run of four top-10s in the last seven races of 2020, highlighted with a runner-up finish at Las Vegas. The popular veteran openly expressed he’s in hisRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Chase Elliott won the biggest race of his life – rallying from a last place starting position to cross the Phoenix Raceway finish line first in the Series Finale 500 – earning his first career NASCAR Cup Series championship at the age of 24 – the youngest champion in NASCAR’s premier series in 25 years. Ultimately Elliott won by 2.74-seconds over former fellow title contenders, Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. The fourth championship-eligible driver, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, finished fourth.Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Chase Elliott cruised to an impressive 6.577-second victory over Ryan Blaney Sunday in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the most clutch victory of the 24-year old’s young career – earning a position in next week’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 season finale. Equally as dramatic was a failed last lap pass for position that has eliminated the regular season champion and nine-race winner Kevin Harvick from advancing to that final round. Harvick had to pass 2019 series champ Kyle Busch forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service After winning the three-time-weather-delayed Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Wednesday, Kyle Busch climbed from his car and pointed to the image of a zombie on his helmet. “This is what we’ve all looked like around here for the last three days,” Busch quipped. “Everybody just zombied into their phones.” In reality, 72 hours, 28 minutes and 34 seconds elapsed between the time NASCAR red-flagged the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race on Sunday and lifted the red at 5:03 p.m. ETRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Just when you thought this week’s NASCAR news was done, think again. This time, it impacts the future of three Ford drivers as Thursday’s announcements gets us a step closer of finishing out the silly season puzzle. Matt DiBenedetto will stay with the Wood Brothers for only one more season as Xfinity Series star Austin Cindric will make the move to the Cup Series in 2022. Therefore, Cindric will stay in the second division with Team Penske as he signed a multi-year deal. Finally, ClintRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service For the second time in as many seasons, Denny Hamlin broke Matt DiBenedetto’s heart, before NASCAR removed the pathos from the situation with a post-race ruling. At the end of a third overtime at Talladega Superspeedway, Hamlin beat DiBenedetto to the finish line to win by .023 seconds—roughly two feet—in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at the 2.66-mile track. But NASCAR erased the close call by penalizing DiBenedetto for forcing William Byron below the yellow line separating the racing surface fromRead More