Matt DiBenedetto Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer After over a month of speculation, Leavine Family Racing finally confirmed Tuesday that NASCAR Xfinity Series star Christopher Bell will move up to the the sport’s premiere series in 2020. The Norman, Oklahoma native will replace Matt DiBenedetto in the No. 95 Toyota Camry and he’ll have familiar names joining him. Calling the shots will be his Xfinity Series crew chief Jason Ratcliff as Mike Wheeler will become the team’s Competition Director. Bell’s long-time partner of Rheem, who will also move up with the versatile driverRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Wood Brothers Racing will have a new driver behind the wheel in 2020 as the team announced on Tuesday that Paul Menard will be retiring from full-time driving at the end of the season, with Matt DiBenedetto replacing him in the cockpit of the famed No. 21 Ford. Menard, who has driven for the Wood Brothers for the last two seasons and full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series since 2008, cited wanting to spend more time at home with his family as oneRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent DARLINGTON, S.C. – Strong runs for Matt DiBenedetto continued at Darlington Raceway as he earned back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career. The No. 95 IMSA GTO Throwback Toyota Camry battled Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, and Paul Menard in the closing laps of the Bojangles Southern 500. DiBenedetto fought Bowyer hard until he fell behind in lapped traffic. He lost another spot to Busch in the closing laps. However, DiBenedetto held off Menard all the way toRead More

By Chris Knight, NASCAR Wire Service ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. – In a two-lap shootout in Saturday afternoon’s CTECH Manufacturing 180 at Road America, Christopher Bell checked out from the competition to claim his sixth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season. Bell found himself battling the best of the best when it comes to road course racing in NASCAR inside the final laps of the race between AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric, but when Gray Gaulding went into the gravel in Turn 1, the full-course caution waved setting up anRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With four races to go in the regular season, time is running out for NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contenders. With Playoff implications on the line, expect the competition to be tight and the action to be drama-filled this weekend as the series heads to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for the 10th annual CTECH Manufacturing 180 on Saturday, August 24 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Road America has seen nine different Xfinity Series winner’s pull intoRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Matt DiBenedetto was 12 laps away from a lifelong dream being realized as he held the lead in Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Unfortunately for the driver of the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota, that dream would not come true as Denny Hamlin passed him on lap 489, leaving DiBenedetto to watch Hamlin’s car pull away through his windshield en route to the victory. A dejected DiBenedetto fought back tears on pit road afterRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – The first thing Denny Hamlin did after winning Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night race at Bristol Motor Speedway was apologize to the man he beat to the finish line in the 24th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. With 11 laps left in the grueling 500-lap event, Hamlin drove to the inside of Matt DiBenedetto and cleared him from the lead. Roughly three minutes later, Hamlin crossed the stripe .502 seconds ahead of the No. 95 LeavineRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Earlier this week, Matt DiBenedetto finally got the news he had been dreading. Despite being in the midst of a career year, he would not be returning to the driver’s seat of the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota next season. The Grass Valley, California native classified the news as “devastating” when it was released, but after some time to process what had happened, the always optimistic DiBenedetto did his best to keep a smile on his face despite the uncertainty thatRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson played a late game of King of the Mountain in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series time trials at Bristol Motor Speedway. After 38 drivers made qualifying runs, it was Hamlin who was left at the top of the peak. Larson was the 34th driver to take to the track, and his impressive lap at 129.004 mph (14.874 seconds) put him on the provisional pole for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (7:30 p.m. ETRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Under bright blue skies in East Tennessee, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series got its first look at Bristol Motor Speedway ahead of Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. After what was a mostly one groove race in Thursday night’s Truck Series race at the track, it was much of the same in first practice on Friday. Erik Jones, who led both Xfinity Series practices on Thursday, was once again at the top of the board in the first ofRead More