Race number two for the NASCAR Cup Series is in the books, and winner number two of the season has been crowned, with Joey Logano emerging victorious over Matt DiBenedetto, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Austin Dillon at Las Vegas. The 1.5-mile track provided many moments of exciting racing, interesting race strategies (that eventually paid off), and some four, five, even six-wide racing. There were some clear winners and losers from this weekend’s race, and here are some of those headliners.
The NASCAR season is now officially, officially, underway. Obviously, Daytona started the season, but the second race is circled on every team’s calendar as a ‘test’ race of sorts, where car performance can first be seen without the help of a 200+ mile per hour draft. Joey Logano picked up the victory in the Pennzoil 400, and the top-ten was full of unexpected success stories. That led to some large shakeups in this week’s power rankings, but a driver who hasn’t yet won now leads the pack.
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Matt DiBenedetto is our first driver in a new feature at Fan4Racing. ‘In Focus’ will put a spotlight on various NASCAR drivers, crew members, and people in the industry. We also hope fans will enjoy learning more about each person.
At Wood Brothers Racing for the 2020 season, Matt DiBenedetto has made the most of his journey to get there. So, it’s not surprising that we might expect him to make the most of his time in the No. 21 for the organization. And so far, DiBenedetto is on a roll.
With just two NASCAR Cup Series races in the books, DiBenedetto is having his best-ever start of a season. It’s clearly still too early to judge his entire season. But his results thus far give some reason for optimism. With finishes of 19th at Daytona and a second at Las Vegas, he’s in a three-way tie inside the top-ten of the series point standings. And just 25 points away from the lead.
NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings
For the first time in his career, DiBenedetto is even with Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson at this point in the season. Hamlin is a three-time Daytona 500 winner. While Johnson is a seven-time Cup Series champion. Heading to Auto Club Speedway this weekend, that certainly gives DiBenedetto some confidence in that kind of company.
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Three drivers ‘made their names’ in the NASCAR Xfinity Series over the last couple of years. Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, and Cole Custer each earned their place in the ‘Big Three’ of the series last year. On their way to collectively winning 21 of 33 races (64%), these three drivers took a meteoric rise to the top. Reddick went on to claim the championship for the second year in a row and now, the ‘Big Three’ are moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series as part of the rookie class in the premier series. That leaves the question of who fills the role of being next in the ‘Series where Names are Made?’
For many, the common answer is Justin Allgaier, Chase Briscoe, and Austin Cindric. These drivers finished the season right behind the departing drivers, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively in the point standings. Briscoe won at Las Vegas and now leads the series points battle just two races into the season. Meanwhile, Cindric sits sixth and Allgaier ninth. While a strong case can be made for these three, there are other drivers already making their statements for this season on the track.
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