page_title: Matt DiBenedetto
section_title: BK Racing: 2015–2016
hierarchical_section_title: Matt DiBenedetto / Racing career / Cup Series / BK Racing: 2015–2016
caption_attribution_description: English: Matt DiBenedetto being introduced at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Irwin Tools Night Race.
context_page_description: Matthew Guido DiBenedetto is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 21 Ford Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing.
context_section_description: DiBenedetto moved up to the Sprint Cup Series in 2015. He was originally intended to drive the No. 83 Dustless Blasting and No. 93 Toyotas for BK Racing on a part-time basis; he split the No. 83 during the year with Camping World Truck Series driver Johnny Sauter. After Sauter drove the No. 83 in the Daytona 500, DiBenedetto failed to qualify in his first two attempts at Atlanta and Las Vegas before finally qualifying for his Sprint Cup debut at Phoenix. When Sauter eventually decided not to race at any other Cup race after the Daytona 500, DiBenedetto took over the No. 83 full-time and declared for ROTY contention.
  At Martinsville Speedway during a practice session, DiBenedetto was involved in an incident with three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart. The incident occurred when DiBenedetto tried to merge on the track behind Carl Edwards and the gap closed ahead of him. With Stewart fast approaching down the backstretch, DiBenedetto moved up the track in turn three to let Stewart pass. "When I got to (turn) three I didn't want to hold him up, so I just pulled up high and let him go by," DiBenedetto told Foxsports.com. "I got completely out of his way, but that wasn't enough. He tried to wreck me a few times, brake-checking me and flipping me off around the whole track." After the incident, DiBenedetto called Stewart "an arrogant prick".
  DiBenedetto returned full-time with BK Racing in 2016, though he ran the No. 93 for the Daytona 500 since Michael Waltrip was in the No. 83 for the race. At Daytona, DiBenedetto crashed with Chris Buescher on lap 92 in what Buescher called the "hardest hit of his career", though the two were not injured. In the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, DiBenedetto finished sixth, a career-best at the time, his first career top ten and the first for BK Racing since Travis Kvapil's eighth-place finish at the 2012 Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. He returned to the No. 93 for the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond while Dylan Lupton drove the No. 83, while also driving the No. 93 at Talladega's Hellmann's 500 as Jeffrey Earnhardt was in the No. 83. DiBenedetto missed the AAA Texas 500 after suffering a concussion during the previous day's Xfinity Series race and was replaced by Earnhardt. He was cleared to return at the following race in Phoenix. For the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead, he drove the No. 49 to promote the video game NASCAR Heat Evolution's price change to $49.99.
  On December 8, 2016, DiBenedetto announced he had parted ways with BK Racing. Two days later he announced that he would drive a single-car effort for Go Fas Racing in 2017. Go Fas is one of the charter teams and as a result, DiBenedetto would make every race in the No. 32 Go Fas Racing Ford Fusion.
caption: DiBenedetto at the 2015 Irwin Tools Night Race
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