By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
BRISTOL, Tenn. — The crowd roared and Matt DiBenedetto was unable to hold back the tears. He almost won a NASCAR Cup Series race.
After breaking the news that he will not return to Leavine Family Racing for the 2020 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, DiBenedetto turned the rough announcement into his best career race Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Leading the most laps of the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (93) DiBenedetto lost out to a soaring Denny Hamlin, who tracked down and passed the No. 95 with 12 laps to go. DiBenedetto finished second.
“Just hard racing, that’s Bristol. Hard racing,” DiBenedetto said. “[Hamlin] is a guy that I’ve asked advice from, I’ve been a fan of as a kid. To race door-to-door with him for the win at Bristol… crazy.”
Jumping to a two-second lead following the race’s final restart with 113 to go, DiBenedetto was maintaining one second on Hamlin until contact with the lapped car of Ryan Newman affected the handling of DiBenedetto’s Toyota. Just enough to ease Hamlin’s race-winning pass.
“After the damage with Newman trying to get around him, I got tight. It flipped a switch and got tight,” he said. “Denny was strong. I thought before that I could hold him off.
“Newman races hard so I’m not mad at him. It cost us the chance of trying to hold off Denny. Denny was fast, he was doing great. I was a sitting duck after that.”
Before the contact, crew chief Mike Wheeler adjusted the No. 95 to where DiBenedetto was able to jump to the top spot.
“That’s why our car came to life at the end,” he said of Wheeler’s adjustment. “He’s so good… who knows what will happen but the thought of not being able to work with him after this year is devastating. Everything this week was devastating but I’m thankful at the same time.”
Despite missing out on his first Cup win in his 164th start, DiBenedetto was in tears of happiness following 500 laps… all thanks to his peers and tens of thousands of Tennessee race fans.
“I’ve been an emotional basket case this last little bit,” he said. “God, I wanted it so bad. We were so close.”
The fans in attendance knew DiBenedetto’s story, cheering for the No. 95 driver following the race.
“The fans screaming and cheering for us… I lost it, I couldn’t even hold it together,” he said. “This sport, especially after this week… oh man. It’s been crazy.”
He was also met with warm regards by fellow drivers like Clint Bowyer, Ryan Blaney and retired Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon.
Blaney hopes DiBenedetto can find a competitive home come 2020.
“That would’ve been a pretty cool story,” Blaney said. “He just announced he’s not going to be in that car next year and he does a great job. He really drove for that one. He’s a great driver, I hope he lands somewhere good.”
The kind words from competitors means more than anything, said DiBenedetto.
“You have to earn the respect of these guys,” he said. “All these guys who came up to me after the race, it was hard to hold it together when all these drivers are coming up to you. It’s amazing to have earned that respect from them. They can be your biggest advocates, too, when you’re in the situation I’m in. I’m lucky to have raced smart and earn that respect.”
From here, DiBenedetto plans to make the most of the final 12 races of 2019 with LFR.
“I’m really sad we didn’t win,” he said. “To come that close and to taste it, gosh I wanted it more than anything in the world. I’m thankful to have a great team that deserves wins. They are so good, I’m so lucky.”