AVONDALE, Az – Before Sunday’s Good Sam 500 at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway, BK Racing car owner Ron Devine was all smiles on the grid as he thought his two cars had a shot at being competitive Sunday afternoon.
He was right.
Matt DiBenedetto carried the team during the fourth race of the season with a respectable 20th place finish, earning his best run of the 2016 season.
“I’m very proud of our BK Racing team today,” said DiBenedetto. “Ron (Devine, team owner) made a lot of wholesale changes over the offseason to work on our program and this finish is a result of that.”
The driver of the No. 83 Schluter Systems Toyota may have needed a little help from the beneficiary of two free passes in order to pull off his second-best NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finish, but the race pace he showed gives his two-car team some hope for the remaining short track races on the schedule.
“Overall this is a solid weekend for the 83 team after a strong qualifying effort and top-20 finish we know we are making steps in the right direction,” he added. “Gene (Nead, crew chief) and the team are working hard and the results will continue to improve.”
Before Sunday’s result, a 29th place run at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway had been his best outing, with an 18th place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in 2015 as a career-best.
David Ragan in the team’s second car didn’t fair too bad either. Ragan, the two-time Sprint Cup Series winner finished 24th after starting 29th solidifying Devine’s goal of putting both his cars inside the top-25 when the checkered flag waived.
No matter what the incredibly fast and high horsepower Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway delivers next weekend, DiBenedetto is encouraged about the short track gains his team has made Sunday. And as he should be.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
