Part Failure Leads to 29th-Place Finish For Matt DiBenedetto

Broken Lower Control Arm Leave No. 20 Pizza Ranch Toyota Six Laps Off The Pace

A day which began with great promise for the No. 20 Pizza Ranch Toyota ended with disappointment as a broken lower control arm resulted in a 29^th-place finish for Joe Gibbs Racing rookie Matt DiBenedetto.  It was the first NASCAR Nationwide Series ever at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI and DiBenedetto continued to show an affinity to road course racing following two impressive outings a year ago in the K&N Pro Series East.

DiBenedetto qualified in the 14^th position and was improving through the first third of the race. The JGR rookie raced his way up to the 12^th position when the first caution came out on lap 12. With several cars making a decision to remain on the track, crew chief Kevin Kidd made the call to come to pit road for four tires and fuel. When DiBenedetto returned to the track he was in the 21^st position, but quickly began to gain spots moving his way into 14^th by lap 18 and battling current Series point leader Brad Keselowski for the 13^th position on lap 20. But just as it appeared that he would take yet another spot on the track, DiBenedetto called into his crew that something had broken on the right front side of the car. A quick diagnosis on pit road determined that the lower control arm had broken and the No. 20 Pizza Ranch Toyota was called to the garage for repairs. The Pizza Ranch crew did an amazing job to make repairs and get the car back on the track but when he returned the team found itself six laps off the pace and in the 36^th position.

DiBenedetto managed to stay out of trouble the rest of the way and came home with a 29th-place finish. He will step out of the No. 20 Pizza Ranch Toyota for a few weeks, but will return at Gateway on July 17.

The next NASCAR Nationwide Series race is scheduled for next Saturday, June 26 at New Hampshire Speedway. Joey Logano will return to pilot the No. 20 Toyota. The race starts at 3:30 PM EDT with live coverage provided by ESPN2 beginning with its pre-race show at 2:30 PM.

Nationwide Insurance featured Matt DiBenedetto as their “Driver of the Week” and also provided an in car camera of Matt during the race on ESPN2.  Check out the Nascar Nationwide page at NASCAR.com for interviews and articles featuring Matt from this past week.

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