'Crazy' Brickyard boosts DiBenedetto

Matt DiBenedetto is told before every race by crew chief Gene Nead to stand on the gas and hope for the best.

"That's pretty much what I did today," DiBenedetto said with a laugh. "Just hoped we were in the right position and hoped it was our day and it was our day, man. That was pretty intense; crazy day."

When the carnage was cleared and as darkness descended on Indianapolis Motor Speedway following a chaotic Brickyard 400, it was DiBenedetto and the single-car team of Archie St. Hilaire with an eighth-place finish. A feat that drew not only jubilant team members to the No. 32 Ford, but an unfamiliar sight to its driver: media members who wanted to talk about the feat.

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"That's quite the accomplishment. This year we had a top 10 (ninth) in the Daytona 500, now an eighth-place finish and another top 10 in the Brickyard 400," DiBenedetto said. "This is, gosh, this is a crazy year for us.

"From where this team was last year to this year, it's unbelievable. It's not all me by any means, it's these guys. We have great people – great crew chief, great team all around. That's what you can do with a little team and great people surrounding you.

"We have 15 employees and we have top 10s in those two races and we've ran really competitive all year. ... It was cool, man. I'm just happy for my team more so than myself for how hard they work."

The 25-year-old DiBenedetto joined Go Fas Racing late during the offseason. In just 20 races with the team, DiBenedetto has delivered the organization its first career top-10 finishes (in 118 starts). He has also collected seven top-25 finishes.

But while many will point to DiBenedetto just being one of the few to survive, he'll acknowledge that but also point to the hard work he and his team put in.

"I made the greatest save of my life in (Turn) 3. Got clobbered, I don't even know by who, and saved it there," said DiBenedetto. "There was so many close calls and we got damage on the right front.

"It was a little bit of a survival race but at the same time, we had a good car, we were competitive all day. We got a little damage, had to go to the back, but it worked out for us. So, yeah, definitely some survival and also having a good car so we were in position to take advantage of everybody else's mistakes there at the end."