Gander RV 400 at Dover International Speedway
No. 95 FDNY Foundation Toyota Camry Notes:
· DIBENEDETTO BY THE NUMBERS: In eight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts at Dover, Matt DiBenedetto has an average start of 32.1 and an average finish of 31.1 and has completed 2,874 of 3,215 (89.4 percent) career laps at “The Monster Mile.” DiBenedetto’s best finishing position at Dover is 27th which he’s earned twice (October 2016 and October 2018).
· FEATURING THE FDNY FOUNDATION: The FDNY Foundation and Leavine Family Racing are teaming up for the third year featuring the Foundation aboard the No. 95 Toyota. This year, LFR is helping to raise awareness for the FDNY’s efforts to purchase a state-of-the art training simulator. The Pump Panel Simulator will combine with the Foundation’s driving simulator, which NASCAR helped provide to the FDNY, to train Firefighters on what are perhaps the most crucial and stressful minutes of fire response: arriving quickly and safely to the scene and the urgency to get the right amount of water to the right hoses for rapid extinguishment. To learn more, or to join the Foundation’s team by donating to the Pump Panel Simulator project, please visit www.fdnyfoundation.org/nascar.
· RACE INFO: The Gander RV 400 at Dover International Speedway (1.0-mile) begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 5th. The race will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1, 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
Races Wins Top 5s Top 10s Poles
Cumulative 8 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
10 0 0 0 0 50 21.8 23.4
DiBenedetto’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats:
Starts Wins Top-5’s Top-10’s Poles Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
150 0 0 4 0 73 30.85 28.6
From the Driver’s Seat:
Matt DiBenedetto: “Track position this weekend is going to be incredibly important at Dover, so I think there will be a lot on the strategy side for teams to focus on. Qualifying and pit strategy like staying out or taking two tires, before at Dover you wouldn’t see a lot of that being the focus, but this weekend I think those will be more important factors. It’s going to be harder to pass this weekend because we aren’t sure how the new tires will wear and if that will allow for multiple lanes. One of the main challenges heading into this weekend will be track position and being able to work on more ways to use pit strategies to our advantages. The cars will be going so fast this weekend, and we’ll have so much downforce, that the dirty air can affect the cars more where track position is just going to be more important than it was before. With the added downforce, we may not be moving around on the track as much as we may have in the past. The speeds won’t fall off as much throughout a run as they did in the past at Dover. It’s such a difference in feeling when you start a run at Dover and you’re on new tires. There’s a lot of lateral load with you being shoved up against the right-side of your seat, but then throughout the run when you’re lifting more and slowing down more, it gets harder to drive your car but it gets less physically demanding on your body. This weekend, we’ll be sustaining way more speed for a lot longer in the run, which is why driver’s will once again want to focus on making sure they’ve braced up their seats to combat the physical demands.”
From the Pit Box:
Mike Wheeler: “Looking ahead to this weekend at Dover, I think it will definitely be one of the more interesting 750 spec package tracks that we go to because it’s going to be really fast. I really anticipate that cars will be faster than normal this weekend, which Dover was already a fast track before this package. I think that it will be similar to what Bristol became when we raced there a few weeks ago. That being said, it’s usually hard to pass at Dover and this package may make that harder to do. Hopefully the added downforce will allow the track to widen out some to allow for different lanes, but that usually takes some time over the course of a race. The weather for this weekend also looks like it may become a factor at this point with some rain in the forecast so hopefully that won’t disrupt our on-track schedule so that everyone has time to learn what we can during practices and qualifying. It is a new tire for this weekend, so that in itself is something that we’ll chase. Part of our game plan for this weekend will be to qualify as well as we can and then maintain track position throughout the entire race. You of course want to try and score stage points if you can, but we also will want to avoid shuffling to the back of the field because I think that once you get towards the back of the pack, it will get harder to pass. There is usually the opportunity to make things happen at Dover with two tires or by staying out so that you can gain track position, but with all the new changes this weekend, we’re not exactly sure how things will truly play out just yet.”
No. 95 FDNY Foundation 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: Tim Lambert Mechanic: Ryan Dextraze
Tire Specialist: Tony Ramirez Jackman: Brad Donaghy
Fueler: Ryan Dextraze Rear Changer: Deven Youker
Front Changer: Adam Hartman Tire Carrier: Chris Hall
Hauler Driver: Damon Lopez
About The FDNY Foundation:
The FDNY Foundation provides funding for programs that advance the New York City Fire Department’s goals, which include maintaining operational excellence, reaching out to the community with an array of fire and health safety programs, and increasing diversity within the Department’s uniformed ranks.
As the Department’s official 501(c)(3) non-profit partner, the Foundation works with the philanthropic community to generate tax-exempt contributions and grants that benefit all New Yorkers by keeping the FDNY strong and responsive to the community it serves. Foundation funding supports cutting-edge equipment and training for first responders, fire safety education in our schools, free CPR training for the public, and initiatives to introduce a new generation of young people to the world of emergency response.
