NASCAR Silly Season rumor: Matt DiBenedetto new driver of the Leavine Family Racing No. 95
By Nick Tylwalk
Matt DiBenedetto’s bet on himself might pay off if the latest Silly Season rumor turns out to be true.
When you’re mired in place driving for lesser NASCAR teams, sometimes you have to make moves that seem counterintuitive to advance your career. Matt DiBenedetto definitely fits that description, leaving his gig with GoFas Racing without anything lined up for next season. Now it appears he might be landing with Leavine Family Racing, a team that might be poised to make a big step forward in 2019.
Adam Stern of SportsBusiness Journal reported that LFR has a press conference scheduled for Wednesday, though the team did not announce the purpose of it. It could simply be to announce that the team is switching to Toyota in a long-rumored move, but because it also needs a driver to replace the retiring Kasey Kahne, it would make sense if a replacement was being named as well.
A replacement like, say, DiBenedetto.
.@LFR95 has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday afternoon @NASCARHall, and while the team did not specify why, it's expected to switch to @Toyota next year and has been close in recent days to signing Matt DiBenedetto (@MattDRacing). pic.twitter.com/fFqf3R1OLo
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) October 8, 2018
On the surface, this would appear to be just a small step forward for the likable 27-year-old from California, going from a team that is currently 31st in owners points to one that is 26th. However, with Furniture Row Racing closing up shop, it’s been widely reported that Leavine Family Racing is switching to Toyota in order to benefit from the same kind of technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing that the Denver-based team enjoyed up to and through this year.
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No one is suggesting that DiBenedetto will suddenly morph into Martin Truex Jr., but if everything that is rumored falls into place for LFR, the 95 will be in much better shape to be competitive than it was for Kahne, and definitely faster than anything DiBenedetto has driven at the NASCAR Cup Series level to date. That’s a win no matter how you slice it, and an opportunity that his fans should enjoy seeing him get.