Matt DiBenedetto – No. 95 Toyota Express Maintenance Toyota Camry – Martinsville 2 Preview

DiBenedetto’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Martinsville:
Date          Event:                                              S       F       Laps            Status
03/29/15    STP 500                                          43     31      494/500        Running
11/01/15    Goody’s Headache Relief 500         36     30     492/500         Running
04/03/16    STP 500                                          35     29      495/500        Running
10/30/16    Goody’s Fast Relief 500                 27     32      489/500         Running
04/02/17    STP 500                                          28     35      401/500        Crash
10/29/17    First Data 500                                 28     39      187/505        Electrical
03/26/18    STP 500                                          31     32      488/500        Running
10/28/18    First Data 500                                 26     36      451/500        Running
05/24/19    STP 500                                          21     20      500/500        Running

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
32           0              3                7               0               152                 21.2               18.6

DiBenedetto’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats:
Starts      Wins     Top-5’s     Top-10’s     Poles       Laps Led      Avg. Start       Avg. Finish
172             0              3               11               0               175                 29.3                 27.0

From the Driver’s Seat:

Matt DiBenedetto: “This year’s rules package changed Martinsville more than we had originally thought from what we learned in the race there earlier this season.  Even though Martinsville is more of a slow speed short track, we were able to put the throttle down on the straightaways in the long runs during the spring race.  In the past we wouldn’t have been able to do that because we would have been sliding them all the way down the straightaway without being able to put the gas down.  With cars handling that way now it makes it even harder to pass at Martinsville because there’s less discrepancy in speed, and less major falloff where you used to see people blowing the tires off on the straightaways without being able to put the throttle down while others were very distinct long-run cars.  Now everyone is a lot closer in speeds, so it’s a lot harder to be able to charge through the pack at Martinsville.  The plan for this weekend is pretty straightforward: qualify well and keep track position all day.  To have a good day, you need to have a car with aggressive short-run speed and be able to turn really well.  The track doesn’t rubber up as much as it used to, so it changes your set-up approach, my approach to the race, and driving the track.  The dynamic of the racing at Martinsville has just changed with this package.  It’s still Martinsville though and one of my favorite tracks on the circuit.”

From the Pit Box:

Mike Wheeler: “Richmond, Phoenix, and Loudon are all pretty fast short tracks on our circuit compared to Martinsville, so we don’t really apply much of what we learn at those places to Martinsville since it’s more of a slow mid-corner track.  The new downforce package did affect the racing we saw earlier this season at Martinsville quite a bit.  A lot of that had to do with the tire and tire falloff during the spring race.  Before at Martinsville, you had to fight forward drive a lot.  The big spoiler this year has reduced that by a decent amount, and it makes the lap time degradation quite a bit less than it used to be.  That was the big experience that we took away from the spring race at Martinsville with this package.  Going back this weekend, it will be cooler temperature-wise and this race generally ends towards evening.  Those factors play into the track conditions changing over the course of the race and make for having to account for that within the balance of our Camry.  The better cars at Martinsville can still pass and make gains throughout the course of the race.  Obviously, execution is still critical because it’s just generally hard to pass at Martinsville.  Martinsville is one of those tracks though where the better cars seem to migrate forward, but the idea would be to qualify as well as you can with the impound setup, bide your time for the first half of the race, and then make sure you can stay ahead of the changing track so that you’re ready to finish strong.”

No. 95 Toyota Express Maintenance 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

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