Toyota Racing – Matt DiBenedetto
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Atlanta Motor Speedway – February 22, 2018
Leavine Family Racing driver Matt DiBenedetto was made available to the media in Atlanta:
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 95 ProCore Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing
How does it feel now after having a stellar weekend at Daytona last week?
“Encouraging for sure. That was probably one of the neatest parts was that everyone worked really really hard to get a lot of changes done over the offseason and get ready for Daytona and then to go and have that fast of a car and lead the most laps was so rewarding for the guys.”
Do you expect the bottom line to work as well here as it has in the past?
“I think we’ll be searching around here a pretty good bit. Heck, I ran not too many laps on tires – 10 to 15 – and I was already moving up to the middle and to the high lane in one and two and searching a little bit in three and four. It’s got a little bit of the same old Atlanta characteristics that are fun, but we just have more grip and more downforce, less horsepower so it’ll probably race a little different.”
How do you compare the Vegas test to what you feel here?
“The crazy part is they’re totally different. Completely different approach. Vegas I felt like you approach a little more like a – almost like a superspeedway because the track has so much grip and tires don’t fall off. Here, the tires do fall off and you don’t have any grip, so you’re approaching it a little bit backwards. Kind of a little bit more like we’re accustomed to. Not completely, you need some speed in the car because we don’t have all the horsepower to make up for it, but yeah, we are approaching the two different.”
Does this package maximize or minimize the nuances of this track and its racing surface?
“When we had less downforce, it would really exaggerate how worn out the race track was, so you would fall off a whole ton in the long run and heck, you could get to where you couldn’t even – you could barely get wide open off the corner. The straightaway you’re still spinning tires in real long runs. It won’t be that bad now since we have the added downforce, but you still will be searching around and we still will be lifting out of the throttle a little more than we – definitely more than we will be at a track like Vegas.”
Are you part of the competition meetings with Joe Gibbs Racing drivers on Mondays?
“No. We have a good relationship with them and good communication with hem, but we have our own separate competition meeting at our own shop on Tuesdays where we discuss the communication back and forth and get whatever info we can.”
After you did so well at Daytona, do you think expectations have risen and does that bring added pressure to live up to that?
“Yeah, we set the bar pretty high, didn’t we? The bar is definitely set high as far as the fans especially. They’re really expecting some good things and they’re excited and so are we. But also, same for us, we exceeded even my own expectations. I probably raised the bar for my expectations for the team and just knowing how good of people we have, I think I’m expecting some pretty good things and we’re going to make the most of what we have. I think that was encouraging for everybody – fans, us, team, sponsors, everybody.”
Would you prefer to have the expectations raise after Daytona or do you like making sure that you’re not overpromising on performance this year?
“That’s a good question for sure. I think there’s a happy medium between it all. We obviously had a stellar day leading the most laps and being exceptionally fast at Daytona. That’s hard for anybody and any team to do on a given week. Our team realistically had a lot of changes and a lot of growing to do over the off season. A lot of work and we’re in the growing stages. I would say we will try and make the most of our equipment and continue growing as a team, but it’s hard to do that on a weekly basis. I do think there’s a happy medium. We’re not going to run 30th or anything. We’re going to be contending up front and make the most of our equipment learning together, growing the team and hopefully competing up front and racing top 15s all the time hopefully. That’s our goals.”
What do you have to learn this year that’s different than in your previous experience?
“Perfecting stuff like pit stops. My pit road rolling times, all that stuff becomes all that much more critical when you’ve got Kyle Busch on your bumper when you’re pulling own pit road who’s an expert at this stuff or when you’re hitting pit road under green and exiting, putting your race together. Every little maneuver or move you make is that much more critical at that point because you’re racing guys that have done this for so many years and have perfected all the little things to put the races together perfect. I’d go on and on about that, but just lots of little details that you have to really perfect that can affect the outcome of your race.”
How crucial will the Western Swing be with this new package?
“I think after the West Coast Swing, we’ll have a pretty good idea of where everybody is at. It’s just going to be a lot of learning for people starting the year off. A lot of new, a lot of change, but after the West Coast, it’s going to be a good indicator because we go to three completely different race tracks.”
Will you be welcomed among this different group of drivers that you’re going to race now?
“Actually, I was really amazed that – I’ve known Kyle Busch and I’m pretty comfortable with him, so I went to him for quite a bit of advice. In the Duel he got caught in a position where he was stuck on the bottom and I built a hole and let him in and that gained some respect from him, showing them like hey, I’m here to race and be a good teammate to my Toyotas. That directly impacted a lot of our race where you saw those guys line up behind us and not try to hang us out and worked with us all day long. Yeah, I’m going to have to do lots of things to continue to gain the respect of the guys around me, but I think that Daytona 500 did a whole lot for us in that aspect for us. Not only just me as a driver, but us a team like oh, hey these guys are here to race.”
Is it important that these drivers do accept you?
“It’s really important. That race taught me even more so how important that stuff is. You’ve got to race each other with respect. Like you said, it’s a new group of people I’m around. If you don’t have the respect for them and you make stupid moves and such, they’re going to do anything they can to hang you out, not work with you and not race you respectfully and rightfully so. I have to race really hard but smart at the same time.”
Did you come into today riding the wave of last weekend?
“I was just pretty focused on this weekend. I try not to get too worked up over anything. I just stay focused – head down, dig. It did change a little bit of my outlook on this weekend. Like wow, man, just amazed me how I knew we had good people, but just how good all of them are and how well they all work together. It probably raised my expectations a little bit.”
