NASCAR: Matt DiBenedetto to return to Wood Brothers Racing in 2021

Wood Brothers Racing have announced that Matt DiBenedetto is slated to return to the team for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.

After several months of speculation and even doubt, Wood Brothers Racing made it official on Thursday and confirmed that Matt DiBenedetto is slated to be back behind the wheel of the #21 Ford for a second year in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Wood Brothers Racing reportedly had until the end of September to let the 29-year-old Grass Valley, California native know whether or not they were going to pick up his option for next year.

Here is what DiBenedetto had to say about the opportunity to return to Wood Brothers Racing for the 2021 season, according to a team release.

"“It’s such an honor to be able to continue to drive for Wood Brothers Racing and have another year to grow with this organization. I am excited to learn from our 2020 notebook and I’m confident that with a full season under our belt and working together as a team, we will produce even better results. I also want to thank Ford Performance and Team Penske for their efforts in making this happen. These types of decisions take a lot of time, as we all know there are a lot of factors in play. All three groups want to make the best decisions for everyone involved and I’m appreciative to have the opportunity to continue to compete for such a legendary race team.”"

Here is what Wood Brothers Racing team president and co-owner Eddie Wood had to say about DiBenedetto coming back for another year.

"“Matt has been able to find success this year under very difficult circumstances. Since he joined our team, he only had limited time working with our group due to the pandemic. While it’s been an entirely new organization, he found a way to consistently run up front and make the Playoffs. We have learned a lot together this year and we look forward to continuing to build with Matt in 2021.”"

There was speculation that Team Penske Xfinity Series driver Austin Cindric would be promoted to DiBenedetto’s seat, given Team Penske’s technical alliance with Wood Brothers Racing and the fact that he has had a breakout season that has seen him win five races in a six-race span.

But that won’t happen quite yet.

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DiBenedetto landed his ride with Wood Brothers Racing for the 2020 season after Paul Menard retired and told the team that they needed to hire DiBenedetto as his replacement. DiBenedetto was driving for Leavine Family Racing at the time, but it had already been announced that he would be replaced behind the wheel of the #95 Toyota after just one year.

DiBenedetto qualified for the playoffs for the first time in his six-year career this year, which guarantees that he will finish in the top 16 in the championship standings to better his career-best result of 22nd place from last year, and he has tied his career-high individual race finish of second twice.

After finishing in second place in last August’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, he finished in second in both races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this year. He also finished in second at Talladega Superspeedway this past Sunday before NASCAR demoted him to 21st with a post-race penalty.