Matt DiBenedetto Tag

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

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Let me make this clear about Sunday’s Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, I’m not holding back. Denny Hamlin wins a long and controversial 200-lap, three-overtime saga by just 0.023 seconds over Matt DiBenedetto and like last August at Bristol, the racing crowd jeered the now 44-time NASCAR Cup Series winner at the expense of Matt D coming up short of a maiden win. Gutted for DiBenedetto, but that’s just the way life is sometimes. Stuff isn’t meant to be and will have to wait another weekRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service With a career record of 0-for-21 coming into Sunday night’s South Point 400 at his hometown Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch may have felt like a “long shot.” But with fortunate track position late in the race and some sure-bet restarts at the front of the field, Busch can now count himself a Vegas winner. The victory was a high stakes haul, automatically earning a position for Busch in the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs – moving the 2004 series champion fromRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Bristol Motor Speedway hosted the first elimination race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on Saturday night, marking the end of the road for four drivers and their championship aspirations. Several drivers entered the night within striking distance of the top-12 in points, but when the checkered flag fell Cole Custer, William Byron, Matt DiBenedetto, and Ryan Blaney would be the unlucky drivers to get the axe. All four came into the Bristol Night Race with ground to make up in the points battle, butRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Thunder Valley this weekend for the annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, a showdown under the lights on the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” that is sure to leave sheet metal twisted and tempers flaring once these drivers get done battling for 500 laps. Racing at Bristol is always intense, but when the lights go down for the night race, the intensity gets cranked to 11. The aggressiveness that the drivers will show on the high-banked bullringRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Two races down, one to go. With the conclusion of Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond, the first round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is nearly complete, with Bristol Motor Speedway and the first elimination race looming large next weekend for those drivers who have yet to lock themselves into the next round. Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin are safe from whatever carnage may lie ahead at the Last Great Colusseum as the Playoff field is cut from 16 to 12.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Race No. 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is here as the championship contenders get set to take on the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway. After a barn burner in last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington to kick off the first round of the Playoffs, the traveling circus moves north to Virginia for its first visit to Richmond this season after the first race, originally scheduled for this spring, was moved elsewhere due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, this year’s raceRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Coming into Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, a nerve-wracking night was ahead for those drivers that had yet to lock themselves into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Now that the checkered flag has fallen on the regular season, Matt DiBenedetto can breathe a sigh of relief knowing he will be one of the 16 drivers battling it out for a championship over the next 10 weeks. DiBenedetto had a slim nine-point advantage when the night began, so it was key for the driverRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The NASCAR Cup Series regular season comes to an end right where it all began back in February as Daytona International Speedway is set to host Saturday night’s running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. With three spots in the Playoffs still up for grabs, those drivers who have yet to lock themselves in will have to make it through the gauntlet at the World Center of Racing to punch their ticket into the postseason. Of the drivers still looking to race their way in, ClintRead More