Matt DiBenedetto
Matt DiBenedetto | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DiBenedetto at Road America in 2012 | |||||||
Born |
Matthew Guido DiBenedetto July 27, 1991 Grass Valley, California | ||||||
Awards | 2007 UARA-Stars Rookie of the Year | ||||||
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
135 races run over 4 years | |||||||
Car no., team | No. 32 (Go Fas Racing) | ||||||
2017 position | 32nd | ||||||
Best finish | 32nd (2017) | ||||||
First race | 2015 CampingWorld.com 500 (Phoenix) | ||||||
Last race | 2018 1000Bulbs.com 500 (Talladega) | ||||||
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NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
68 races run over 6 years | |||||||
2016 position | 107th | ||||||
Best finish | 21st (2014) | ||||||
First race | 2009 Kroger On Track for the Cure 250 (Memphis) | ||||||
Last race | 2016 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead) | ||||||
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Statistics current as of October 14, 2018. |
Matthew "Matt" Guido DiBenedetto (born July 27, 1991)[1] is an Italian-American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 32 Ford Fusion for Go Fas Racing.
Early years
DiBenedetto first showed an interest in auto racing after receiving his little league trophy around age 8. His father, Tony, who raced an Opel Manta in SCCA and IMSA in the late 1970s and early 1980s, noticed he preferred watching automobile racing on television over baseball.[2] DiBenedetto's father knew that another player on his son's little league team was competing in mini kart racing so he bought him a used kart which a young DiBenedetto drove to his first victory. He later moved up to the UARA-Stars series, racing late models.[3]
Racing career
Xfinity Series
DiBenedetto made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in 2009 at the Memphis Motorsports Park and drove the No. 20 Pizza Ranch Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. DiBenedetto raced part-time in the No. 20 car in 2010.
His first race of 2010 came at the night race for the Nationwide Series from Tennessee. He was solid the whole night and had a top 10 performance in 10th. His next race came at Road America. While running 11th he had an axle problem due to running over the curbs too hard, and that led to him falling many laps down. DiBenedetto ran six races for Joe Gibbs in 2010, with two top ten finishes. In 2011, he drove for Laerte Zatta in the K&N Pro Series East. After sponsorship ended, he joined The Motorsports Group midway through 2012 and ran as a start and park driver.
In 2013, DiBenedetto joined Vision Racing to drive the No. 37 car part-time in the Nationwide Series[4] and also started and parked the few races he was in. Dibenedetto later looked back at the start-and-park time as valuable for the seat time it gave him, which paid off later in his career.[5]
During the 2014 season's Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona, DiBenedetto replaced Jeffrey Earnhardt in the No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevy during the first caution due to Earnhardt suffering a fractured collarbone in a motorcycle accident during the week.[6] For the second race he joined the Motorsports Group, where he start-and-parked the No. 46 Chevrolet for 12 races and raced the rest with the No. 46. He had an 11th-place finish at Road America and a 13th at Mid-Ohio, both road courses.
In 2016, he made his return in the Xfinity Series driving the No. 10 Camry for TriStar Motorsports at Fontana, where he started 33rd and finished 40th after starting and parking. At the Fall Texas race he crashed into the outside wall in turn 4 ending in a concussion and not racing in the Cup race the following day.
Monster Energy Cup Series
DiBenedetto moved up to the Sprint Cup Series in 2015. He was originally intended to drive the No. 83 Dustless Blasting and No. 93 Toyotas for BK Racing on a part-time basis; he split the No. 83 during the year with Camping World Truck Series driver Johnny Sauter. After Sauter drove the No. 83 in the Daytona 500, DiBenedetto failed to qualify in his first two attempts at Atlanta and Las Vegas before finally qualifying for his Sprint Cup debut at Phoenix. With Sauter eventually decided not to race at any other Cup race after the Daytona 500, DiBenedetto took over the No. 83 full-time and declared for ROTY contention.
At Martinsville Speedway during a practice session, DiBenedetto was involved in an incident with three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart. The incident occurred when DiBenedetto tried to merge on the track behind Carl Edwards and the gap closed ahead of him. With Stewart fast approaching down the backstretch, DiBenedetto moved up the track in turn three to let Stewart pass. "When I got to (turn) three I didn't want to hold him up, so I just pulled up high and let him go by," DiBenedetto told Foxsports.com. "I got completely out of his way, but that wasn't enough. He tried to wreck me a few times, brake-checking me and flipping me off around the whole track." After the incident, DiBenedetto called Stewart "an arrogant prick".[7]
DiBenedetto returned full-time with BK Racing in 2016, though he ran the No. 93 for the Daytona 500 since Michael Waltrip was in the No. 83 for the race.[8] At Daytona, DiBenedetto crashed with Chris Buescher on lap 92 in what Buescher called the "hardest hit of his career", though the two were not injured.[9] In the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, DiBenedetto finished a career-best sixth place,[2] his first career top ten and the first for BK Racing since Travis Kvapil's eighth-place finish at the 2012 Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.[10] He returned to the No. 93 for the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond while Dylan Lupton drove the No. 83,[11] while also driving the No. 93 at Talladega's Hellmann's 500[12] as Jeffrey Earnhardt was in the No. 83.[13] DiBenedetto missed the AAA Texas 500 after suffering a concussion during the previous day's Xfinity Series race[14] and was replaced by Earnhardt.[15] He was cleared to return at the following race in Phoenix.[16] For the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead, he drove the No. 49 to promote the video game NASCAR Heat Evolution's price change to $49.99.[17]
On December 8, 2016, DiBenedetto announced he had parted ways with BK Racing.[18] Two days later he announced that he would drive a single-car effort for Go Fas Racing in 2017.[19] Go FAS is one of the "charter" teams and as a result, DiBenedetto will make every race in the No. 32 GFR Ford Fusion.
In the 2017 Daytona 500, his first for Go Fas, DiBenedetto finished 9th for his second career top 10. Statistically, DiBenedetto has been Go Fas Racing's best driver since co-owner Frank Stoddard founding the team in 2011, with him picking up several top twenty and top thirty finishes. DiBenedetto had a great race in the 2017 Food City 500 when he picked up a top twenty finish, his best finish since Daytona. At the Monster Energy Open leading up to the All-Star Race, DiBenedetto drove a Reddit-sponsored car; he learned of the site when driver Josh Wise was voted into the 2014 All-Star Race by the community, who nearly voted DiBenedetto into the 2016 race.[20] The community then repeated their near-feat by having another close call in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race. After the campaign, DiBenedetto remained an active member of the community, interacting with its users in the NASCAR subreddit on a regular basis.
At the 2017 Brickyard 400, DiBenedetto qualified near the back of the field. Despite this, he managed to avoid the late-race melee to pick up another top ten finish for the No. 32, finishing 8th. Soon after the race, DiBenedetto, crew chief Gene Nead, and Go Fas extended their contract to the 2018 season, allowing DiBenedetto to remain in the No. 32 for 2018.[21] However, Nead left for personal reasons in late February.[22]
Before the spring ISM race, DiBenedetto reached out on Twitter that his team has no sponsors for that race and needed a last-minute sponsor. Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Darrell Waltrip began to donate money to fund a sponsor, and the team later received Zynga Poker sponsorship.[23] Go Fas eventually launched #TeamBurrito, a program that allows fans to encourage businesses to sponsor the No. 32 car in exchange for various rewards.[24] Later that season, in July, at Daytona, DiBenedetto drove the #32 Zynga Poker Ford Fusion to another top ten finish, this time 7th, for the team's best finish.
On September 7, 2018, DiBenedetto announced that he will not be returning to Go Fas Racing in 2019. On October 10, it was announced that DiBenedetto signed a two-year contract with Leavine Family Racing to drive the No. 95 Toyota Camry starting in 2019.[25]
Personal life
DiBenedetto was born in Nevada City, California but raised in Grass Valley, California to parents Sandy and Tony DiBenedetto. He has three siblings, Austin, Katie, Kelley. Austin is a member of the United States Air Force.
In 2015, DiBenedetto married his childhood friend Taylor Carswell. They currently reside in Hickory, North Carolina.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)
Monster Energy Cup Series
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | MENCC | Pts | |||
2015 | BK Racing | 83 | Toyota | DAY | ATL DNQ |
LVS DNQ |
PHO 35 |
CAL 42 |
MAR 31 |
TEX 34 |
BRI 21 |
RCH 37 |
TAL 18 |
KAN 25 |
CLT 34 |
DOV 32 |
POC 32 |
MCH 39 |
SON 29 |
DAY 26 |
KEN 42 |
NHA 35 |
IND 32 |
POC 29 |
GLN 26 |
MCH 30 |
BRI 33 |
DAR 25 |
RCH 36 |
CHI 39 |
NHA 30 |
DOV 34 |
CLT 29 |
KAN 30 |
TAL 40 |
MAR 30 |
TEX 35 |
PHO 28 |
HOM 37 |
35th | 399 | |||
2016 | 93 | DAY 40 |
RCH 37 |
TAL 27 |
MAR 32 |
35th | 386 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
83 | ATL 29 |
LVS 31 |
PHO 20 |
CAL 27 |
MAR 29 |
TEX 34 |
BRI 6 |
RCH 30 |
TAL 36 |
KAN 30 |
DOV 40 |
CLT 32 |
POC 40 |
MCH 34 |
SON 31 |
DAY 33 |
KEN 38 |
NHA 31 |
IND 40 |
POC 28 |
GLN 34 |
BRI 17 |
MCH 32 |
DAR 26 |
CHI 30 |
NHA 28 |
DOV 27 |
CLT 25 |
KAN 24 |
TEX INQ† |
PHO 25 |
|||||||||||||
49 | HOM 27 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2017 | Go Fas Racing | 32 | Ford | DAY 9 |
ATL 28 |
LVS 26 |
PHO 29 |
CAL 29 |
MAR 35 |
TEX 31 |
BRI 19 |
RCH 28 |
TAL 18 |
KAN 32 |
CLT 37 |
DOV 29 |
POC 32 |
MCH 28 |
SON 23 |
DAY 13 |
KEN 25 |
NHA 30 |
IND 8 |
POC 37 |
GLN 28 |
MCH 26 |
BRI 26 |
DAR 27 |
RCH 31 |
CHI 31 |
NHA 31 |
DOV 31 |
CLT 23 |
TAL 31 |
KAN 22 |
MAR 39 |
TEX 25 |
PHO 27 |
HOM 30 |
32nd | 363 | |||
2018 | DAY 27 |
ATL 31 |
LVS 22 |
PHO 25 |
CAL 31 |
MAR 32 |
TEX 16 |
BRI 21 |
RCH 16 |
TAL 19 |
DOV 29 |
KAN 22 |
CLT 37 |
POC 37 |
MCH 36 |
SON 17 |
CHI 29 |
DAY 7 |
KEN 37 |
NHA 28 |
POC 27 |
GLN 33 |
MCH 24 |
BRI 22 |
DAR 38 |
IND 36 |
LVS 24 |
RCH 34 |
CLT 13 |
DOV 27 |
TAL 30 |
KAN | MAR | TEX | PHO | HOM | -* | -* | ||||||
† – Replaced by Jeffrey Earnhardt |
Daytona 500
Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | BK Racing | Toyota | 20 | 40 |
2017 | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 25 | 9 |
2018 | 36 | 27 |
Xfinity Series
K&N Pro Series East
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | NKNPSEC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2009 | Joe Gibbs Racing | 18 | Toyota | GRE 10 |
TRI 1* |
IOW | SBO | GLN 5 |
NHA 1* |
TMP 3 |
ADI | LRP 16 |
NHA | DOV 11 |
14th | 1099 | [26] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 | X Team Racing | 15 | Toyota | GRE 5 |
SBO 2 |
RCH 10 |
IOW 13 |
BGS 1** |
GRE 2 |
LGY 4 |
NHA 27 |
COL 4 |
GRE 10 |
NHA 4 |
DOV 22 |
4th | 1741 | [27] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 | Hattori Racing Enterprises | 01 | Toyota | BRI | GRE | RCH | IOW | BGS | GRE | LGY | CNB | COL | IOW 20 |
NHA | DOV | GRE | CAR | 72nd | 24 | [28] |
ARCA Racing Series
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
ARCA Racing Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | ARSC | Pts | ||||||||||||||||||||
2011 | Dave McClure | 14 | Toyota | DAY | TAL | SLM | TOL | NJE | CHI | POC | MCH | WIN | BLN | IOW | IRP | POC | ISF | MAD | DSF | SLM 6 |
KAN | TOL 12 |
62nd | 370 |
* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
References
- ↑ Matt DiBenedetto Career Statistics
- 1 2 Gluck, Jeff (April 17, 2016). "Gluck: Matt DiBenedetto writes fairy tale with sixth place at Bristol". USA Today. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
- ↑ "NASCAR podcast: Matt 'Guido' DiBenedetto". Racer. 2018-05-03. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
- ↑ Wolkin, Joseph (April 21, 2013). "Matt Dibenedetto to Return to NASCAR Nationwide Series with Vision Racing". Rant Sports. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
- ↑ Ryan, Nate (2018-04-26). "Ep. 135: Matt DiBenedetto". ART19. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ↑ Eddinger, Mark (July 4, 2014). "Dakoda Armstrong Wins Pole as Downpour Causes 7-Car Crash in Round 1 of Nationwide Qualifying at Daytona". Sports Media 101. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
- ↑ Spencer, Lee (March 27, 2015). "Dibenedetto: Stewart has anger issues". Motorsport. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
- ↑ Pockrass, Bob (February 5, 2016). "Michael Waltrip to race in Daytona 500 for BK Racing". ESPN. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
- ↑ Olson, Jeff (February 21, 2016). "Chris Buescher, Matt DiBenedetto endure hard collision at Daytona 500". USA Today. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
- ↑ Menzer, Joe (April 17, 2016). "Career-best finish leaves Matt DiBenedetto emotional after Bristol". Foxsports.com. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ↑ "E.J. Wade Construction Returns to Sponsor Matt DiBenedetto, Dylan Lupton at Richmond". BK Racing. September 1, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Talladega Entry List". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- ↑ "JEFFREY EARNHARDT TO DRIVE FOR BK RACING AT TALLADEGA". NASCAR. October 17, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- ↑ Pockrass, Bob (November 5, 2016). "Matt DiBenedetto in concussion protocol, out of Sunday's race". ESPN. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
- ↑ "Matt DiBenedetto out with concussion; Jeffrey Earnhardt called in as replacement". Sporting News. November 6, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
- ↑ "DIBENEDETTO SAYS HE IS 'CLEARED TO RACE THIS WEEKEND'". NASCAR. November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "$49.99 NASCAR Heat Evolution Joins BK Racing, Matt DiBenedetto for Homestead" (Press release). BK Racing. November 11, 2016. Archived from the original on November 11, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ McFadin, Daniel (December 8, 2016). "Matt DiBenedetto not returning to BK Racing in 2017". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
- ↑ Staff report (December 15, 2016). "DiBenedetto Joins Go FAS Racing for 2017 Season". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports Network. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ↑ "DIBENEDETTO, GO FAS RACING TO REP REDDIT AT ALL-STAR WEEKEND". NASCAR. May 8, 2017. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
- ↑ "Matt DiBenedetto returning to Go Fas Racing for 2018 season". NASCAR. August 12, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
- ↑ "GoFas Racing announce new crew chief, Randy Cox for the 32 team". NBC Sports. February 27, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
- ↑ Errington, Tom (March 8, 2018). "DiBenedetto gains sponsorship for Phoenix race weekend". Motorsport.com. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
- ↑ Nguyen, Justin (March 23, 2018). "Matt DiBenedetto and Go Fas thinking outside the box with sponsorship". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
- ↑ "Leavine Family Racing hires DiBenedetto to drive the No. 95 Toyota". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. October 10, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ↑ "Matt DiBenedetto – 2009 NASCAR Camping World East Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ↑ "Matt DiBenedetto – 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ↑ "Matt DiBenedetto – 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matt DiBenedetto. |
- Official website
- Matt DiBenedetto driver statistics at Racing-Reference