February 28, 2020 | By Lee Spencer

DiBenedetto hopes to ride Vegas wave of momentum into California

FONTANA, Calif.--Before the 2020 NASCAR Cup season began, Matt DiBenedetto described driving the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford as “the best opportunity of my life.”

Considering the Wood’s success over nearly seven decades of racing—and the team’s current alliance with Team Penske—the 28-year-old from Grass Valley, California, could not have asked for a better platform to showcase his talent.
With a second-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in just his second start with the team, DiBenedetto did not disappoint. 

“This one was an encouraging second-place finish for sure,” DiBenedetto said. “It’s so cool. It’s too dang surreal to be driving this thing in the first place, the legendary Motorcraft/Quick Lane No. 21. It’s so cool to have the support of them and Menards and Ford and this whole team. It took so many people and it’s so cool to be driving for the Wood Brothers. It took so many people to get me this thing and we’re close – the second race of the season and we’re already starting off with a second-place finish. That’s great.  

“Those Penske cars were really fast and I can’t thank them enough for their help of our team as well. We were close. I made a real aggressive move there (on the final restart). Greg Erwin, my crew chief, made great calls, and that’s what it took to get us up there and inch up there all day.”

Erwin, 39, is in his 13th season as a Cup crew chief and his second with the Wood Brothers. He has worked with a variety of drivers who have skill sets similar to DiBenedetto's, as well as open-wheel standouts that have transitioned to Cup such as Robby Gordon, AJ Allmendinger, Sam Hornish Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya. 

Although they are still in the infancy of their relationship, Erwin is impressed with his driver’s ability to communicate what he needs in the car.

“Matt has come into our program and brought a lot of confidence in his abilities,” Erwin said. “He has proven to be open-minded to everything we have discussed doing with our 2020 Mustang. We have communicated very well and are often on the same page as to what we both think it takes to be successful on Sunday.

“He knows that he is in the same equipment as the Penske drivers and is very eager to live up to the expectations of Wood Brothers Racing.”

DiBenedetto was anything but an overnight success in Cup, but his work ethic and progress on the track have kept his name in the conversation. Through the urging of the late J.D. Gibbs, DiBenedetto gained his first Cup start with the now-defunct BK Racing. After struggling with mediocre equipment, he took a small step forward with GoFas Racing. 

As Leavine Family Racing transitioned from Chevrolet to Toyota, DiBenedetto received the call to drive the No. 95 car. In his 140 Cup starts prior, DiBenedetto had just four top fives to show for his efforts. Last season, he posted three top fives and seven top 10s, including a career-best second-place run at Bristol with LFR last August.

Although DiBenedetto enjoyed a previous relationship with the Wood Brothers—which he established through racing late models against Len and Nancy’s son Keven at Hickory Speedway—Paul Menard, who retired from the No. 21 Ford last year, advocated for his replacement. Following his second-place run at Vegas, DiBenedetto didn't forget Menard or the Menard’s sponsorship along with Ford, Roush Yates Engines and the Wood Brothers for this latest opportunity which he described as surreal. 

“Daytona is really its own animal,” DiBenedetto said. “Las Vegas was our first of what I’d call a normal weekend and a pretty good indicator of how we’ll be going forward.”

With a solid run in the Daytona 500 and a breakout performance at Vegas, DiBenedetto is hoping to continue his success at Auto Club Speedway. He scored a career-best 18th-place finish in his fifth start at the two-mile track last year. But given the caliber of the No. 21 Wood Brothers team, DiBenedetto believes he can be competitive anywhere.

“It’s a big track, but it’s unique in that there’s a lot of sliding around,” he said. “It’s more fun to drive when the lap times fall off.

“With my previous teams, my strength was usually on the short tracks and road courses. Now we have speed every week.”