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0:00 Power Hour
1:45 DiBenedetto is a free agent
4:21 Penalty
7:37 Penske swaps crew chiefs
11:30 JGR swaps pit crews
48 comments
I hope he gets a new ride soon! I personally really wish DiBenedetto had stayed with the Wood Brothers. He was a legitimately good mid-pack driver in that car, and probably should’ve won at least 1 race between mid 2020 and 2021. He’s a good driver who deserves more, even if he was already in a stable situation with his “ARCA truck” team.
I agree
WBR have been mediocre since Menard. They can’t competitively gain points or speed
Just get rid of Burton
Roger Penske gave him the ax Because they needed a place for Austin with expecting Brad to stay in the 2 car but Brad leaving changed plans for Austin and Penske wasn’t keeping Matt As he did not bring sponsorship
I hope to see him back, even just for a one off with RWR or something.
@John Haas even if there were no sponsors for DiBenedetto but Menards, Motorcraft, and Purolator, 6 top 5s and 20 top 10s and 159 laps led in two seasons, plus a couple playoff finish of 13th is enough to keep him around for at least one or two more years. The numbers don’t lie. While he wasn’t great, he was good enough that he was keeping up, and keeping the team in a stable position. More than what Burton’s done.
I hope that this crew chief change could help both the 2 and 21 cars start to grow back to where they were back around 2020. The Wood Brothers, the oldest team in nascar, deserves better than what they’ve gotten.
Change the driver Burton sucks only got ride due to last name…
Went downhill when they got rid of Matty D.
Dibenedetto to the 31
Hope Matty D finds a ride. I would love to see him back in cup
He doesn’t have sponsorship And he never did deserve another ride or fans after he said let’s go Brandon That should have been a lifetime ban from the sport
John Haas first amendment. He just like anyone else has the right to say whatever he wants
@RedXraider 0 nobody saying he couldn’t say it but it did cost him big time. The first amendment only applies to the government anyway as they can’t tell you what you can and can’t say
Unfortunately he doesn’t perform. He’s a likable guy but why take up a cup seat when there are lots of more qualified and talented drivers out there?
It may be too early to tell, but at this rate, Cindric could turn into Custer. They both had a lot of success in the Xfinity, Custer could have won a championship, but didn’t. Both won a race in their rookie year, and both have a dad in their organization and are kinda a pay driver. Time will only tell if Cindric will make progress or not
Cindric is a proven champion in Xfinity. While Custer was solid, he was nowhere near where Cindric was.
…and they both drive or drove the third or fourth car in the stable!
…and Cole Custer, who’s father Joe, actually runs SHR, not Tony or Gene, is not only back being very competitive in the Xfinity series, but has shown he’s one heck of a road racer and a fairly decent super speedway driver.
Tim Cindric, much like Joe Custer at SHR, likewise runs the day to day operations of Penske himself, not Roger.
Austin on the other hand has not only has wins in the X Games Rally Cross, ARCA East, ARCA, Trucks, Xfinity, and Cup, but has an Xfinity Championship, Cup ROTY, and a Daytona 500 Trophy to boot!
I think Matt is going to Kaulig… that sure would surprise everyone like Chris Rice mentioned
He doesn’t have any sponsorship
@John HaasMatt Kaulig would fund it out of pocket just like always
@AHawks48 He doesn’t want to That’s exactly why Justin left He didn’t have to try to find sponsorship. It’s been reported Matt doesn’t want to sponsor the car
That was my thought only because of the timing and what Rice just said. I’m going to go ahead and say I think DiBenedetto has shown to be overrated but seems like a lot of comments here saying otherwise.
In the past has JGR swapping crews paid any immediate dividends? If so it wasn’t reported that the changes helped at all.
Penske’s struggles aren’t a surprise to me. Brad Keselowski and Matt DiBenedetto both have the reputation of making their cars better, and they no doubt had a role in making all the team cars better. With them being gone for two seasons now, you’re seeing the drop off that comes from losing that and replacing it with inexperienced drivers.
You’re half right…lol
One’s a former NASCAR Champion and the other’s a almost won at Bristol once…wtf?
@Bryon Kidderwell dibenedetto was like menard in that he was a midpack driver who usually kept it clean and yeah losing brad hurt Penske seeing how competitive he’s made RFK
@Xavier Juno Paul Menard won Indy, he’s way better than DiBenedetto…lol
@Bryon KidderKyle Larson will tell you dibenedetto can drive
@Bryon Kidder the 21 team sucked, like really sucked for years, and the were getting better and better, made the playoffs on points once and barely missed it his last year. They went from 15th place to 30th place in two years, the driver had something to do with that. I’m not saying Dibenedetto is a champion driver, just that some guys are good at giving feedback to teams and it makes them work better. Burton brought in all kinds of money and yet the team immediately started to flounder, this isn’t a coincidence. I’m not saying the two drivers had equal impact on Penske, either, just that they’re different kinds of guys than the ones they have there now.
Eric’s point about Willy B’s success with Rudy is spot on. Byron comes in with chad and in what 3 years wins 1 race. In the same amount of time Rudy and Byron have one 8. That familiar voice is super important
He probably used a bleeder on the RR. Similar to what dirt cars use. Odd they would do that, most teams just drill microscopic holes in the sidewall to control pressure (not legal but not detectable either).
Yeah, RCR got caught doing that back in 2015.
Thought bleeders as well
I wouldn’t be surprised if whoever replaces DiBenedetto brings their own sponsorship. Him losing his ride during a Playoff run is reminiscent of Brett Moffitt losing his ride after a championship.
As a C. Bell fan I think this is a fantastic move with the pit crew. We were slow all year in the pits. Hopefully this will work out. Don’t sleep on Bell!
That crew was pretty good at fixing the car in several races and still being competitive.
In the spirit of the 20 swapping pit crews with the 54, I’d be happy with the 45 swapping with just about any other team!
I think that the switch from bell and Gibbs is a good choice, because one of the reasons why Kyle Larson won the cup was because a late rocket pitstop if he didn’t have a good pit stop maybe just maybe MTJ could of been the 2021 champion.
I hope Grant Enfinger can win the championship, that would be great for GMS to go out on top.
I remember a time when Chad Knaus during a race put the 48 crew aside and pulled the 24 crew in after the 24 was out of the race. It was something the commentators had opinions on as well as many others but it worked, it got a message out there that the crew fully understood. Sometimes actions are really louder than words.
It was fall Texas race in 2010
Great move to. You gotta do what you gotta do for the best results for the team
I think it’s a realistic possibly that Dibby gets the 31 next year. Chris Rice has a ‘surprise signing’ for that ride, and DiBenedetto is a current Chevy driver. I know he said he doesn’t have 2024 plans yet, but never say never.
Look at it this way. This isn’t the first time Matt DiBenedetto has chose to part ways with a team in search of something better. He parted ways with GoFas Racing and moved to LFR, where he ran pretty well. I think he has something lined up. And I would love to think it’s the number 31 for Kaulig Racing in Cup.
Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs switching pit crews is a no brainer. Christopher Bell needs all the momentum he needs to keep in the playoffs and compete with his teammates. Gibbs has nothing to lose for having a less efficient pit crew, so its a pretty easy choice and it’s for the best to help Bell’s championship hopes. As for the crew chief change, I can’t comment how well it’ll work, we can only watch with time if it was worth it
I think DiBenedetto leaving Rackley W.A.R is a good choice, but not for bad reasons. He has been a great driver getting top 10s and being a contender for wins and making the playoffs for the first time this year. I can see him possibly heading to the 31 for Kaulig replacing Justin Haley, and if that doesn’t happen then maybe Kaulig or JRM in Xfinity. I hope he is able to find a good ride next year, he is one hell of an underrated driver.
The swaps in the cup series hopefully lead to success for both Penske and JGR. I wanna see Matty D make his return to the cup series here soon, but a run in the xfinity series would be a good idea to see where he is.