DiBenedetto Overcomes Early Issues To Finish Sixth on the ROVAL

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Duracell team extended their streak of strong road-course runs with a sixth-place finish in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

DiBenedetto and the Menards/Duracell team recovered from an early race setback to work their way into the top 10 and score their second-straight top-10 finish on a road course and their fourth top-11 in the past four races on road courses.

At Charlotte, DiBenedetto started the race from 30th place, quickly gained 10 spots then began to employ a strategy designed to gain track position.

Crew chief Jonathan Hassler elected to stop for fresh tires before the Competition Caution flag flew at Lap 12 then returned to pit road for fuel during the caution period.

But their strategy was foiled by contact on the track late in Stage One that left the Menards/Duracell Mustang with body damage and cost the team the track position it had gained.

In Stage Two, DiBenedetto worked to overcome the poor track position, and his efforts put him in position to restart the third Stage from 10th place.

With the Menards/Duracell Mustang back up to speed, DiBenedetto was able to maintain his spot in the top 10 until a green-flag pit stop with 30 laps remaining.

DiBenedetto had moved to second place during that round of green-flag stops and was poised to rejoin the field safely in the top 10 once he made his stop.

But damage to a front fender caused a slow stop that put him back in 16th place.

Once again, DiBenedetto began working his way forward. He leapfrogged into to the top 10 by staying on the track when the caution flag flew for debris from Chase Elliott’s car.

Restarting in second place, DiBenedetto was able to hold his spot in the top 10 despite drivers behind him having fresher tires. Another caution gave his challengers with fresher tires more opportunities to pass him, but he held his ground and came home in sixth place. It was his ninth top-12 finish in the past 13 races.

DiBenedetto said Sunday’s strong run is a testament to the hard work the No. 21 team has put into its road-course program.

“Road courses used to be a weak point in our program, and now they’re not,” he said. “The whole team has put so much effort into it and worked really hard to address the areas where we were lacking.”

He said that with a few fewer setbacks on Sunday, the results could have been even better.

“At the end, if we had been on new tires, with Hassler’s strategy, our Menards/Durcell Mustang was as good as any car out there,” he said. “To finish it off like we did on old tires shows just how good our car was.”

Next up for DiBenedetto and the No. 21 team is the Autotrader 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Oct. 17.

Menards

A family-owned and run company started in 1958, Menards is recognized as the retail home center leader of the Midwest with 236 stores in 15 states. Menards is truly a one-stop shop for all of your home improvement needs featuring a full-service lumberyard and everything you need to plan a renovation or build a home, garage, cabin, shed, deck, fence or post frame building. Menards is known for friendly Customer Service and as the place to “Save Big Money” with low prices every day, and sales too! For more information, please visit Menards.com to learn about our store locations, offerings and services.

Wood Brothers Racing

Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the famous No. 21 racer.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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