Saturday’s Drydene 311, the first of two Drydene 311-monikered NASCAR Cup Series races at Dover International Speedway, will be the 200th-career NASCAR Cup Series race for Matt DiBenedetto, driver of the #21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.
“It’s cool that this weekend is my 200th start,” DiBenedetto said. “That’s crazy to think. I remember making my first Cup start at Phoenix and just being appreciative for being there and accomplishing the first part of my dream, which was making it to the Cup Series. Now, it’s fast forward to this season having a dream opportunity driving the 21 car and competing up front.”
Saturday’s race will provide an opportunity for other milestones for DiBenedetto and some other entities associated with him. A win in Saturday’s race would be a career-first for the driver, in addition to being the 100th win for his Wood Brothers Racing team and the 700th victory at the Cup level for Ford.
DiBenedetto is in his first year as driver of the iconic #21 after Racing for teams including BK Racing, Go FAS Racing and Leavine Family Racing since joining NASCAR’s top series in 2015.
DiBenedetto’s 199 races, to date, include five top-fives and 18 top-10 finishes. He has two runner-up showings, coming with Leavine Family Racing last year at Bristol Motor Speedway and with the Wood Brothers organization this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
DiBenedtto also is in position to make the playoffs for the first time in his career in 2020, as he enters the Dover weekend 13th in the driver points standings with three races remaining in the 26-race regular sason.
