A significant milestone start is in the making for Matt DiBenedetto, driver of the No. 99 Chevrolet entry for Viking Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Circuit of the Americas, DiBenedetto will make his 100th career start in the Xfinity division.
A native of Grass Valley, California, DiBenedetto made his Xfinity debut at Memphis Motorsports Park in October 2009. Driving the No. 20 Toyota entry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), DiBenedetto started fourth and finished 14th. He would return the following season to pilot JGR’s No. 20 Toyota entry for a total of six races. During the six-race schedule, DiBenedetto recorded a season-best ninth-place finish at Iowa Speedway in July. He also finished in 10th place at Nashville Superspeedway a month earlier.
After spending the 2011 season driving for X Team Racing in the ARCA Menards Series East division, DiBenedetto returned to the Xfinity Series and competed as a “start-and-park” competitor, where he retired early, for The Motorsports Group in 2012. In seven events as a “start-and-park” competitor, he recorded a season-best 40th-place result at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in August. The Californian then made a total of six starts between The Motorsports Group and Vision Racing in 2013, in which he settled in a season-best 33rd place at Atlanta Motor Speedway in August.
The 2014 season would mark the year where DiBenedetto competed in the most Xfinity events in a season as he competed in all but four of the 33-race schedule. Despite not qualifying for the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway with Vision Racing, DiBenedetto, who made all of his Xfinity starts with The Motorsports Group in 2014, notched four top-20 results and a season-best 11th-place finish at Road America in June. Amid his results, DiBenedetto relieved Jeffrey Earnhardt during a first caution period to drive for JD Motorsports at Daytona in 2014. At the conclusion of the year, he settled in 21st place in the final running order and recorded an average-finishing result of 31.3.
Two years later, DiBenedetto, who was competing in the Cup Series division with BK Racing, returned to the Xfinity division for 19 events. After commencing his Xfinity schedule by finishing in 40th place at Auto Club Speedway in March, he notched a season-best 11th-place run at Kansas Speedway in October 2016. During his 19-race span, he made a single start for MBM Motorsports at Texas Motor Speedway in April while the remainder of his starts occurred between TriStar Motorsports’ Nos. 10 and 14 Toyota entries.
Another three years later, DiBenedetto reunited with JGR for a one-race Xfinity deal at Road America in August. During the event, he started on the front row and led a race-high 18 laps. Racing in the runner-up spot behind teammate Christopher Bell on the final lap, DiBenedetto got loose, which caused his No. 18 JGR Toyota entry to race off of the course. As a result, DiBenedetto spun backwards towards the tire wall and got his car stuck in the gravel trap, which plummeted him to 27th place in the final running order.
Five years later, DiBenedetto joined RSS Racing with Viking Motorsports, where he competed as a full-time competitor between both organizations, beginning at Richmond Raceway. By then, the Californian lost a full-time Cup Series ride with Wood Brothers Racing in 2022 and his Truck Series ride at Rackley W.A.R. in 2024. Making a total of 28 starts throughout the 33-race schedule, DiBenedetto recorded three top-10 results and 11 top-20 results. He also earned two seventh-place finishes at Talladega Superspeedway and at Iowa Speedway.
In January 2025, DiBenedetto was announced to return to Viking Motorsports as a full-time Xfinity competitor, where he would pilot the No. 99 entry as the organization changed manufacturers from Ford to Chevrolet. After finishing 11th and 12th, respectively, through the first two-scheduled events of this season, DiBenedetto is currently ranked in 10th place in the driver’s standings and he trails the points lead by 33 points.
Through 99 previous starts in the Xfinity Series, DiBenedetto has accumulated five top-10 results, 19 laps led and an average-finishing result of 30.1 as he strives to achieve both his first race victory and Playoff appearance in the series this season.
Matt DiBenedetto is scheduled to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Circuit of the Americas for the Focused Health 250. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, March 1, with a starting broadcast time of 2:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
