By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.
Though Sunday at Martinsville Speedway ended in 20th spot for Matt DiBenedetto, the STP 500 was full of potential for the veteran driver.
After qualifying 22nd for the STP 500, DiBenedetto was confident on long-run speed in his No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota. And with an inconsistent past for Martinsville in terms of number of cautions, questions marks were in the air for the mid-pack regular.
“I slipped in qualifying, we could have been better there,” DiBenedetto said. “The race, we did not have short-run speed but good lord did we have some long-run speed.”
Thankfully for the 27-year-old, Sunday had multiple long runs, with seven cautions flying over the 500 laps. These runs are where DiBenedetto made the most ground on the competition.
“We drove up to 12th at a point,” he said. “It felt like Days of Thunder, I’d be like, ‘Wheels [Mike Wheeler, crew chief] I’m not going faster, everyone else is just going slower!’ I literally thought that in the car.”
With limited left-side tire wear, conserving the car was still on DiBenedetto’s mind. However, there was a distinct cap on how fast his car could go.
“I just worked on saving my right-rear tire and taking what the car would give me,” he said. “Sure enough, we would drive through the field in every long run. We really needed those long runs.
“We made some adjustments, it was about as good as it was going to be.”
DiBenedetto’s progress was halted when the race’s final caution flew, setting up a restart with 45 laps to go. Not quite enough time to gain ground.
“I was hoping it would run green to the end,” he said. “We were just starting to make up ground, I started driving by everybody, and the dang caution came out. And I was mad. Then, we finished 20th.”
Still managing a top 20, DiBenedetto is still appreciative of his 2019 opportunity, scoring his second straight top 20 of the year and first ever at Martinsville.
“Not where we wanted to be but, hey, it’s good,” he said. “We’re disappointed with top 20s. We’re racing top 15 every week racing good people. We’re going to do nothing but get better.”
Catch up on Mid-Pack with Zach HERE
List of 20th-Place Finishers in 2019
Daytona: Clint Bowyer
Atlanta: Daniel Hemric
Las Vegas: Austin Dillon
ISM: Matt Tifft
Auto Club: Paul Menard
Martinsville: Matt DiBenedetto
Mid-Pack with Zach: Matt DiBenedetto, Leavine Family Racing
By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.
Though Sunday at Martinsville Speedway ended in 20th spot for Matt DiBenedetto, the STP 500 was full of potential for the veteran driver.
After qualifying 22nd for the STP 500, DiBenedetto was confident on long-run speed in his No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota. And with an inconsistent past for Martinsville in terms of number of cautions, questions marks were in the air for the mid-pack regular.
“I slipped in qualifying, we could have been better there,” DiBenedetto said. “The race, we did not have short-run speed but good lord did we have some long-run speed.”
Thankfully for the 27-year-old, Sunday had multiple long runs, with seven cautions flying over the 500 laps. These runs are where DiBenedetto made the most ground on the competition.
“We drove up to 12th at a point,” he said. “It felt like Days of Thunder, I’d be like, ‘Wheels [Mike Wheeler, crew chief] I’m not going faster, everyone else is just going slower!’ I literally thought that in the car.”
With limited left-side tire wear, conserving the car was still on DiBenedetto’s mind. However, there was a distinct cap on how fast his car could go.
“I just worked on saving my right-rear tire and taking what the car would give me,” he said. “Sure enough, we would drive through the field in every long run. We really needed those long runs.
“We made some adjustments, it was about as good as it was going to be.”
DiBenedetto’s progress was halted when the race’s final caution flew, setting up a restart with 45 laps to go. Not quite enough time to gain ground.
“I was hoping it would run green to the end,” he said. “We were just starting to make up ground, I started driving by everybody, and the dang caution came out. And I was mad. Then, we finished 20th.”
Still managing a top 20, DiBenedetto is still appreciative of his 2019 opportunity, scoring his second straight top 20 of the year and first ever at Martinsville.
“Not where we wanted to be but, hey, it’s good,” he said. “We’re disappointed with top 20s. We’re racing top 15 every week racing good people. We’re going to do nothing but get better.”
Catch up on Mid-Pack with Zach HERE
List of 20th-Place Finishers in 2019
Daytona: Clint Bowyer
Atlanta: Daniel Hemric
Las Vegas: Austin Dillon
ISM: Matt Tifft
Auto Club: Paul Menard
Martinsville: Matt DiBenedetto