NASCAR: DiBenedetto cleared to race at Phoenix

BK Racing's Matt DiBenedetto has been cleared to race this weekend in Phoenix after after being ruled out of Sunday's Texas race through NASCAR's concussion protocol.

DiBenedetto, who was sidelined after crashing heavily during the Xfinity Series race on Saturday, was scheduled to visit specialists in North Carolina on Monday.

The 25-year-old driver for BK Racing said that he felt fine after the accident and expressed disappointment at being ruled out of the race, although he conceded that the concussion rules exist for a reason.

"I'm definitely discouraged, but we'll go through this, go through their protocol," he told NASCAR.com on Sunday. "I have to, even though I feel fine, but they have a protocol and things set in place that I have to follow, whether I like it or not. I will do it, get it done and look forward to Phoenix.

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"[I didn't feel] the slightest bit [hurt], not even two seconds after the crash. If I could redo the situation knowing now how it turned out I would have sprinted down [the banking], maybe done jumping jacks. But everything happens for a reason. At this time I need to remain calm and remember they are doing their jobs."

NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O'Donnell said that the series is continuing to develop its response to concussions as it learns more about those types of injuries.

"We never want to see a driver not be able to compete, but obviously safety comes first," he told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "We rely on outside experts to make that call, and in this case Matt was diagnosed with a concussion. The road back for him would be, first, to see a board-certified neurologist, and if he's cleared he'll be back in the car as early as this weekend at Phoenix, which we're obviously all hoping for.

"This is certainly an emerging science that we continue to look at and we learn something new in this area almost every day, as do a lot of other sports. So we try to keep safety first and foremost for the drivers. We're in a dangerous sport and we're going to make sure that everybody is at their best going out there in each and every race."

Brad Keselowski took to Twitter over the weekend to express some displeasure with the idea that DiBenedetto felt fine but wasn't cleared because he was following concussion protocol.

"It's an evolving science," Keselowski told NBC Sports during Sunday's rain delay at Texas. "That's what concussions are. I don't know if there is anyone who can sit here and honestly tell you they have a complete answer and a complete understanding of what is going on. What's unfortunate is that as the science has evolved, our sport, really all sports are trying to deal with it.

"What's happened to Dale Jr. this year is a big wake-up call for everyone. Of course, there is a natural tendency to want to err on the side of caution. Also, there's real people's lives that are being affected and I'm very fortunate to make a living as a driver in this sport, so are a lot of others, and that can be very easily taken away from you by someone who wants to make a conservative decision. I think it's really such a gray area. I really appreciate the tough position that NASCAR is put in, but we have to move forward and we have to look after guys like Matt, who feels like he doesn't have a concussion and is being sat out.

"As a sport we'll work on that together. I'm excited about the commitment that NASCAR has put into working through it together with all the different things we've done, but I don't think we have it perfect and I think everyone can agree to that."