BROOKLYN, Mich. – In the latest action in silly season, CATCHFENCE.com has confirmed that Go FAS Racing has resigned Matt DiBenedetto and crew chief Gene Nead for the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
DiBenedetto joined Go FAS Racing following his departure from BK Racing last December and has since earned two top-10 finishes this season including a season-high eighth at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month.
“I couldn’t be happier to sign this deal with Go Fas and the St.Hilaire family,” said DiBenedetto. “Being involved in this family operation has been so much fun and we get a lot of pride out of improving their program together. Everything that they said they were going to do to our program, they did. It’s great to work with people who say they want to improve and do just that.
“Working with Gene for another season, and especially over the offseason, will allow us to rebuild some of our cars, get ahead on the 2018 season, and really make the most out of our team. Gene is one of the most intelligent guys in the garage area and is respected industry-wide.
“He knows how to make our cars faster with just about any budget. We already have great partners on board, and hopefully, we can continue to add even more to show just how good we really can be.”
A native of Grass Valley, Calif., DiBenedetto made his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut in 2009 at Memphis Motorsports Park for Joe Gibbs Racing. He continued to drive for JGR in a partial schedule through the 2010 season. When sponsorship fizzled out, DiBenedetto moved to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2011, before moving back to XFINITY driving for The Motorsports Group halfway through the 2012 season.
Amidst tough economic times, DiBenedetto maintained a presence in the sport with lower funded XFINITY Series operations, until BK Racing approached him to drive the No. 83 Toyota for the 2015 season starting in the season’s fourth race at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway.
He later earned a career-best sixth place run with BK Racing at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in Apr. 2017 before deciding at the end of the year to join Archie St. Hilaire’s Go FAS Racing.
“I’m really happy to have Matt and Gene back next season! We have improved overall by seven spots from last year and we’re looking forward to picking up a couple more spots before the end of this season. Hopefully, we’ll be working our way into the top-25 in 2018 with more help from existing and new sponsorship,” sounded Archie St. Hilaire.
“All of the guys at Go Fas have worked their butts off this year at the shop and on the road and it’s really showing. We appreciate all the hard work they’ve put in this year.”
Nead, an industry veteran crew chief has more than 20 years of crew chief experience in NASCAR’s top-three national series and has accumulated nine wins, 66 top-five and 112 top-10 finishes along the way. His most noteworthy achievement came in 2005 when he won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship with driver Ted Musgrave at Ultra Motorsports.
A team spokesperson told CATCHFENCE.com that all the team’s current sponsors are coming back for 2018 and they are committed to creating new relationships to help grow their program.
Can-Am, a member of the BRP family and the leader in ATV and Side by Side vehicles has partnered with the team for a minimum of 11 events in their second year of a multi-year partnership with Go FAS while serving as an associate partner for the remaining races.
After leasing their charter to Wood Bros. Racing at the end of the 2017 season, Go Fas Racing leased the second charter from Richard Petty Motorsports for this season. The team has not made a decision on their charter for 2018, but team executive Mason St. Hilaire said the organization will compete with one next year.
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