Toyota Racing – Matt DiBenedetto
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Sonoma Raceway – June 21, 2019
Leavine Family Racing driver Matt DiBenedetto was made available to the media in Sonoma:
Matt DiBenedetto, No. 95 Procore Thanks DW Throwback Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing
Tell us your thoughts on the carousel.
“It’s pretty fun. It’s a cool course. I like it, and we have a lot of the same old characteristics of Sonoma where you fight forward drive and grip. That’s what we love. The carousel is cool. It’s going to be an important corner. It’s going to be where you are going to need to pass going into turn seven. It’s a different corner for us now, but it’s going to be one of our main passing zones. It could be a pretty critical corner.”
Did you spend most of your practice session working on that?
“I spent a lot of practice working on the same old characteristics of Sonoma, which is nice. We are doing some work to make sure it drives off the corner as well as you are going to need. I did spend a good deal of practice making sure too emphasis that we need to get through that corner, well, mostly you need to get off of that corner really well. It needs to turn okay, and you need to be able to throttle down so you can set them up and stay close to their bumper to pull off a pass in turn seven.”
Did you have any problems in turn four?
“Not so much. With some of the corners like that one, you have to weigh out risk versus reward. There’s not much to be gained, but there’s a lot to be lost if you drive it in there too hard. It’s really not worth it. There’s really not that much to be gained there, so you are better off just to drive in there normal and making the corner, completing it and getting off the corner better.”
We are about the halfway point of the season. How have things been going at LFR (Leavine Family Racing)?
“We’ve been working together great. We’ve had fast cars, but have not had the results we’ve deserved. Fast cars, just things have not gone our way. Charlotte, we had a car that could have easily finished in the top 10, but we had a right front tire issue. Phoenix, we had a really good run going, but we had a pit road miscue. It is just some little things. Daytona, led the most laps and we got crashed. Just a few things flipped that went our way, I think it could be tremendous. But we’ve got a lot of season left and we’ve got fast cars, which is the best part.”
Can you talk about mentally and physically preparing for a race like this?
“These ones are a lot tougher. Mentally, you can’t make any mistakes. You can’t get lazy. You have to pay attention all day and be really precise with your shifts. Just little things you have to stay on top of. You’ve got to be patient. If you’re knocking the fenders off of the car, it causes problems. And you’re working a lot harder inside the car at Sonoma than you would be a mile-and-a-half. You’ve got to be hydrated, sleep well. All of the basic things to feel really good.”
Did you spend a lot of time on the simulator to prepare?
“Oh yeah. Especially with the track being different. This one was important. We wanted all the time we could get to get acclimated to the new course.”
Can you talk about the relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and how it has evolved over the season?
“It has been really great. It makes it easier when we have Wheels (Mike Wheeler, crew chief); he has been at JGR for so long. They are comfortable working with him. The relationship is already there. Toyota is already comfortable with all of us as well and that’s kind of home for me. The relationship has been great. We don’t have the information like the 78 team did. We are not at that level yet. We get nice race cars and it’s kind of up to us to figure it out.”
Tell us about your paint scheme for this weekend.
“It is neat and exciting. DW (Darrell Waltrip) has meant a lot to me. He helped me out last year sponsoring my race car last year in Phoenix. His name was on my car. He has been just a really good person. We talked to our sponsor, Procore, and they were totally on board with us running a scheme throwing back to when DW ran the no.95 car.”
How is the higher downforce going to affect the racing?
“I think it shouldn’t affect it too bad here. Just because the speeds are so slow in a lot of the corners, where it doesn’t matter much. The only thing, I followed behind the 3 car (Austin Dillon) and you do get a little aero tight. There might be a little in traffic in the carousel. You’re carrying some speed through there, so you might notice a little bit of those conditions.”
Is it fair to say that this track is the least affected by the new package?
“I think so. I think here, and maybe Martinsville. Martinsville was affected more than I thought. This could be the least affected because the surface is old, and we always fight forward drive, which is nice. Those are the qualities that I miss a lot. I love slipping and sliding all over the place, and having very little grip. That’s what makes me and my driving ability be able to stand out the most and allows me to get the most out of my equipment, so that has been a tough mental struggle. Going to some of these places and just holding it wide open and playing more of a chess game than a driving ability, sliding around, making the most of your car game. This year, as a driver, is completely different and very mentally tough.”
