Matt DiBenedetto Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Matt DiBenedetto’s momentous first year with Wood Brothers Racing continued after a one-day turnaround puts him a bit closer of making the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with just Daytona (road course and oval) and the Dover doubleheader remaining in the regular season. Following a disappointing 15th in Saturday’s FireKeepers Casino 400, DiBenedetto’s second go around at Michigan International Speedway was more encouraging as he finished seventh in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400. In what can be best described as a tough race that even DiBenedetto had himselfRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kevin Harvick’s victory in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway gave the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team a weekend race sweep and a whole lot of momentum as the NASCAR Cup Series closes out its regular season schedule at the end of this month. Harvick’s win is a series-best sixth of the season and 55th of his career – placing the 44-year old Californian 10th on the NASCAR Cup Series all-time wins list tied with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Leavine Family Racing will end its 10-year run in the NASCAR Cup Series at the conclusion of the 2020 season, team owner Bob Leavine said in a statement released on Tuesday. Citing the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on his team, Leavine noted that the organization would not be in a position to compete after this season, leading to the sale of the No. 95 team to a new owner and his exit from the sport when the final checkered flag falls at season’s end.Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service With two wins in his pocket heading into Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski was already in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, but it was this third win of 2020 that came in the sort of dominating style the championship contender hoped would show his team’s readiness to challenge for the season title. Keselowski, 36, led a race best 184 of the 301 laps around the “Magic Mile” and held off runner-up Denny Hamlin by 1.647-seconds to hoistRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Ever wonder how NASCAR would either benefit or become a detriment if they have a graduate level system to where performance and actions defines a competitor’s future in the sport? That’s what I got from Brad Keselowski’s comments following Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Following a ninth-place finish, Keselowski had a lot to say about NASCAR needing to police drivers, making it pretty obvious he was referring to Quin Houff, on whether they’re capable of competing in the sport’s highest level. TheRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto scored a much needed third-place finish in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway after restarting in eighth with two laps remaining. The wild restart saw DiBenedetto giving tremendous push on Cole Custer, gaining some spots along the way. That exact push into Turn 1 played a pivotal role towards the 22-year-old’s sudden charge and mesmerizing four-wide pass for the race win on the last lap. With the race win was unfolding in front of DiBenedetto, he had a battle ofRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service NASCAR Cup Series rookie Cole Custer pulled off a daring four-wide pass for the lead on the final lap to earn the victory in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway – the first rookie to win in NASCAR’s premier series in four years. Custer, who restarted fifth on a restart with two laps to go, made his way forward – daring to go high on track to the outside of a three-wide challenge for the lead among Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Denny Hamlin turned the tables on Kevin Harvick on Sunday at Pocono Raceway. Staying out on old tires and building a lead while Harvick battled traffic late in the Pocono 350, Hamlin won the second race of the historic NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader by 3.068 seconds over Harvick, reversing the finishing order of the two drivers from a day earlier. For the first time in its history, NASCAR ran two Cup events on the same weekend at the same track. Hamlin achieved several milestonesRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Martin Truex Jr. won his second consecutive Martinsville Speedway race Wednesday night, ultimately cruising to a 4.232-second victory over a super competitive Team Penske trio of cars in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. Compared to his dominating victory at the half-mile track last Fall (he led 464 of 500 laps), Truex had to negotiate and muscle his way to the front this time. “We’ve been working a long-time on trying to figure this place out and just been chipping away at it,” saidRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It hasn’t been the best start to Christopher Bell’s Sunoco NASCAR Rookie of the Year campaign, but Sunday’s Food City Presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway may have just build valuable momentum. Despite a late-race uncontrolled tire penalty, Bell’s No. 95 JBL Toyota Camry was able to survive the mayhem that “Thunder Valley” provided and scored a ninth-place, equaling his Coca-Cola 600 effort last Sunday. “We struggled a little bit early, but we continued to make progress on the JBL Camry,” said Bell.Read More