NASCAR: 5 possible landing spots for Matt DiBenedetto in 2020
By Asher Fair
Matt DiBenedetto will not return to Leavine Family Racing for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. Where will he end up? Here are five possible landing spots.
Matt DiBenedetto revealed Thursday that he will not be back with Leavine Family Racing for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season despite the fact that he and the team have made major strides as of late.
After posting an average finish of 24.47 in the first 15 races without a finish of higher than 12th place in his first season driving for the team, the 28-year-old Grass Valley, California native is currently in an eight-race stint during which he has recorded four top eight finishes.
Among these four top eight finishes are the first two top five finishes of his career, including a career-high fourth place finish in the race at Sonoma Raceway and a fifth place finish in the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. His average finish during this span is a respectable 12.88.
But it appears as though Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series driver Christopher Bell will be replacing DiBenedetto behind the wheel of the #95 Toyota next season.
Bell re-signed with Joe Gibbs Racing for next season in late June, but Leavine Family Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing formed a technical alliance with one another ahead of the 2019 season after the formed switched manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota.
With Joe Gibbs Racing not set to have any seats left open for next season with three drivers already under contract and Erik Jones having been tipped to return to the team, Bell driving for Leavine Family Racing effectively on loan makes sense; it’s exactly what Jones did in the 2017 season when he drove the Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated Furniture Row Racing.
So with Leavine Family Racing out of the mix for DiBenedetto, where might he end up next season? Here are five possible landing spots.