Matt DiBenedetto – No. 95 Dumont JETS Toyota Camry Preview
Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway
No. 95 Dumont JETS Toyota Camry Notes:
DIBENEDETTO BY THE NUMBERS: In nine Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts at Dover, Matt DiBenedetto has an average start of 30.4 and an average finish of 29.9 and has completed 3,272 of 3,615 (90.5 percent) career laps at “The Monster Mile.” DiBenedetto’s best finishing position at Dover is 20th which he earned in May’s event earlier this season.
RACE INFO: The Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway (1.0-mile) begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 6th. The race will be broadcast live on NBCSN, Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN Radio.
DiBenedetto’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Dover:
Date Event: S F Laps Status
05/31/15 FedEx 400 36 32 395/405 Running
10/04/15 AAA 400 37 34 391/400 Running
05/15/16 AAA 400 Drive for Autism 29 40 116/400 Crash
10/02/16 Citizen Soldier 400 35 27 393/400 Running
06/04/17 AAA 400 Drive for Autism 25 29 397/406 Running
10/01/17 Apache Warrior 400 40 31 393/400 Running
05/06/18 AAA 400 Drive for Autism 24 29 392/400 Running
10/07/18 Gander Outdoors 400 31 27 397/404 Running
05/06/19 Gander RV 400 17 20 398/400 Running
Races Wins Top 5s Top 10s Poles
Cumulative 9 0 0 0 0
DiBenedetto’s 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats:
Starts Wins Top-5’s Top-10’s Poles Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
29 0 3 10 0 152 20.7 18.8
DiBenedetto’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats:
Starts Wins Top-5’s Top-10’s Poles Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
169 0 3 10 0 175 29.3 27.2
From the Driver’s Seat:
Matt DiBenedetto: “Qualifying at Dover was super fast when we raced there earlier this year. It was actually really fun to be running into the corners so fast there. With this high downforce package we’re glued down more into the track, and because of that, we were way faster in qualifying and in general at Dover earlier this year. Patience is so important to have at Dover because you can burn your stuff up trying to pass somebody when you’re stuck in their dirty air and it’s obviously more beneficial to not use up your car by doing that. The challenge of Dover that we saw back in May with this package was that we didn’t see as much tire falloff as we had seen there in the past. With the old tire falloff, we’d see it where positions would shuffle around a bit more and we could drive through the field a little more than what we experienced this year. You’d see some people that were better long-run cars or were better short-run cars, but now the lap times don’t vary that much so you see people settle into the same spot a bit more. Tires matter but the falloff isn’t as big at Dover as other tracks we go to so there might be situations this weekend where you’re better off taking the track position because you know that the dirty air will be tougher on you than if you’re stuck back further in the field. You’ll see cars that will just take the cleaner air and be on older tires because we’ve seen that if you’re further back in the pack, you can get stuck.”
From the Pit Box:
Mike Wheeler: “Dover has been one of the more interesting tracks this year with this 750hp package because the cars are actually faster than they were last year there and the speeds we saw there back in May were pretty incredible to see in person. Dover is as banked as the intermediate tracks that we’ve had except that those other tracks have less downforce. It’s still the 750 package, which is the higher horsepower engine, with the max downforce in this package. Every other intermediate that we’ve gone to this year had the 550 engine in it, so the speeds were lower overall… higher in the corners but slower in the straightaways. Dover is the place where you recognize the speed because you are going faster than you ever have there before. The downforce pushes cars into the corner and you still have all the acceleration from the engine. We’re still grip-limited in the corners, and that is why dirty air is so challenging there because you are going faster and you have more downforce, so the guy behind you has even dirtier air. The loads at Dover are higher than ever which is an aspect of concern in regard to durability since you can get in trouble with tires or suspension. The track is a lot rougher in person than what you see on TV. The bumps in Turn 3 can be pretty horrendous if you’re not careful. As difficult as dirty air is, fortunately the track does widen out and there can be multiple grooves there that allow for some passing possibilities. It’s very easy to be a fifth to fifthteenth-place car and to get stuck somewhere in the middle at Dover. Generally, the fastest cars do seem to find ways to migrate forward during the race but qualifying well and executing all race long will be critical for finishing well. Tire falloff, wear, and durability are a small concern at Dover.”
No. 95 Dumont JETS Toyota Camry Team:
Driver: Matt DiBenedetto Crew Chief: Mike Wheeler
Car Chief: Greg Emmer Spotter: Doug Campbell
Engineer: J.R. Houston Engineer: Etienne Cliche
Mechanic: Bill Mares Mechanic: Matt Kimball
Shock Specialist: Sean Studer Mechanic: Zach Marquardt
Tire Specialist: Tony Ramirez Jackman: Charles Thacker
Fueler: Bailey Walker Rear Changer: Deven Youker
Front Changer: Jason Charles Tire Carrier: Chris Hall
Hauler Driver: Damon Lopez Pit Support: Brian Eastland
About Dumont GROUP:
Dumont JETS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dumont Group, LLC of Wilmington, Delaware that operates an FAA PART 135 Air Carrier Certificate along with an EASA and FAA approved 145 MRO at the New Castle Airport (KILG), an EASA and FAA PART 145 Repair Station at the Central Illinois Regional Airport (KBMI) in Bloomington, Illinois and FAA PART 145 Repair Station at the Fort Worth Spinks Airport (KFWS) in Ft. Worth, Texas.
