XFINITY: Matt DiBenedetto scores Toyota’s 100th XFINITY Series last-place finish
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| SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums |
The finish, which came in DiBenedetto’s 54th series start, was his third of the season and first since Bristol, four races ago.
Charlotte marked DiBenedetto’s first XFINITY start since Dover two weeks ago, where he came home 38th in front of Ryan Preece and last-placer Justin Marks. He and Josh Wise, again driving the second car #93 from the RSS Racing stables, were the only two drivers who did not participate in Thursday’s opening practice. Both returned in Happy Hour that afternoon with DiBenedetto 27th and Wise 30th. They also qualified on speed - DiBenedetto secured the 24th spot at 177.526 mph and Wise 28th at 175.661 mph. DiBenedetto was actually 19th-best in Round 1, then stood on his time in Round 2.
Two drivers missed the race. T.J. Bell was looking to make his first series start since Phoenix in March, where he came home 26th for JGL Racing, but his #40 OCR Gaz Bar Dodge for Motorsports Business Management was two-tenths of a second off the pace. Joining him was Morgan Shepherd, slowest overall in his #89 Racing With Jesus / Courtney Construction Chevrolet, his fourth DNQ of the year and first since Bristol.
In Saturday’s race, 40th-place starter Harrison Rhodes and his patriotic #97 NC State University / Vroom! Brands Chevrolet trailed the field along with Timmy Hill and Jeb Burton, sent to the rear from 36th and 27th for unapproved adjustments. Burton suffered some damage to his right-rear after spinning off Turn 4 in qualifying. DiBenedetto pulled behind the wall after three laps, followed two circuits later by Wise. Hill and Burton finished 33rd and 11th, respectively.
38th went to Cody Ware, who brought out the first caution of the afternoon when his #15 JJ Aim Right Gun Shop Ford crashed on Lap 14. 37th went to Ray Black, Jr., whose #07 ScubaLife / CDA.edu Chevlet broke an oil line after 27 circuits. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Joey Gase in Jimmy Means’ black #52 Agri Supply Chevrolet, which broke the transmission after 84 laps.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked Toyota’s 100th XFINITY Series last-place finish.
*This is TriStar Motorsports’ third-straight last-place finish in an XFINITY race at Charlotte.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #10-Matt DiBenedetto / 3 laps / vibration
39) #93-Josh Wise / 5 laps / rear gear
38) #15-Cody Ware / 12 laps / crash
37) #07-Ray Black, Jr. / 27 laps / oil line
36) #52-Joey Gase / 84 laps / transmission
2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (4)
2nd) Matt DiBenedetto (3)
3rd) Josh Wise (2)
4th) Justin Marks, Ryan Preece (1)
2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) TriStar Motorsports (7)
2nd) RSS Racing (2)
3rd) Chip Ganassi Racing, JD Motorsports (1)
2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (7)
2nd) Chevrolet (4)
