DAYTONA BEACH, Fla: For most of Friday night’s NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, you probably did not realize that Matt DiBenedetto was part of the 36-truck field.
Flying under the radar in his new ride with Rackley W.A.R. Racing, this weekend’s activities at Daytona brought new opportunities and a new beginning for the popular NASCAR driver – and he certainly made the most of it.
Entering Thursday’s practice session at the 2.5-mile speedway, DiBenedetto mentioned, “I can honestly say that, at this time in my career, I am truly excited. I feel like I’m going back to my roots in a lot of ways.”
And while his No. 25 Rackley Roofing | W.A.R. Shocks Chevrolet Silverado didn’t showcase its speed in practice and qualifying, DiBenedetto could take solace to know that he was guaranteed a starting position that would allow him to compete not only for a top-10 finish but, perhaps even a win.
Easily sandbagging through Stages 1 and 2 on Friday night, DiBenedetto found himself mired deep in the pack, but as the race-worn on, strategy quickly came into play with the Grass Valley, Calif. native inching forward.
Settling safely into the top-20, a 19-truck tango erupted coming to the white flag with DiBenedetto taking evasive action to dodge the spinning carnage around him.
Escaping the crash scene without damage, DiBenedetto set himself up for a green-white-checkered finish and an opportunity to shove Rackley W.A.R. Racing to their first career victory.
Unfortunately, the momentum never materialized and a crash behind him after the field had taken the white flag abruptly ended the race with DiBenedetto settling for 10th – but a solid start to his Truck Series championship campaign.
“We kind of made our bed and to stick with it,” said DiBenedetto after the race. “Our plan was to ride. When you look at the statistics, there is always a big pileup at some point. Then we were going to go. But that crash didn’t come surprisingly until the white flag lap.
DiBenedetto took the 15 minute-35 second red flag to refocus and looked for an opportunity to exile themselves from the box and launch forward.
“We made our bed but in the restart, it was time to go. The truck had tons of speed but got boxed in. All in all, though, I can’t complain. We just wanted to be there at the end. If you get caught up in a wreck it’s completely frustrating to leave the track buried in points and try to catch up, luckily we don’t have to do that. Can’t totally complain – all things considered.”
Even with a week break between round two of the season, DiBenedetto is already looking forward to the next stop in Las Vegas.
“I feel really good about Las Vegas. I’m excited for that one. It’s the start of how we can really stack up. It’s a mile and a half and a place where you need a lot of speed. Rackley W.A.R. is a sophomore team that is committed to improving a bunch. They are all in, I’m all in. We have some really good people.”
As far as his first Truck Series start, DiBenedetto said there’s a lot to get used to.
“Driving the truck itself isn’t too different, it’s more so getting used to a shorter race, the style of racing and the group of people you are racing around,” he said. “A lot to learn there. Even though I’m lucky to have a lot of experience, I plan to stay extremely humble and want to be a student of the game and make the most of the season.”
Friday night’s season-opener was the second top-10 finish for the Nashville, Tenn.-based team and co-team owner Willie Allen said he hoped the team would be able to build on the momentum in the series’ next race at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway next month.
“Overall, we’re pleased with our start on the season,” said Allen. “We obviously played it conservative to try to be there at the end with how things unfold here at Daytona. Matt did a great job avoiding damage to the truck driving through that huge wreck on the frontstretch.
“We’re really positive that this is going to be a great season, and we look forward to the next one at Las Vegas.”
Follow Grace Krenrich on Twitter at @Grace3140.
CATCHFENCE.com’s Chris Knight contributed to this report.
