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Matt DiBenedetto Hands Team Penske a Deadline for his 2021 Contract

Published 09/19/2020, 2:00 AM EDT

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The 2020 NASCAR season is close to wrapping up and eyes will be turning towards 2021. In the case of Matt DiBenedetto, he is weighing his options between Wood Brothers and Team Penske. For the moment, he is part of the Wood Brothers team, but there is a chance of Team Penske recruiting him.

Since the two have collaborated, DiBenedetto has been in a decent run of form. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be enough to convince the team. Ahead of this weekend’s race at the Bristol Motor Speedway, he is facing a must-win situation. However, he is also making some demands of his own.

As it turns out, Team Penske has an option for him in 2021. The question is, if they decide to act on it, he has to know at the earliest. So, DiBenedetto has given the team until the end of September to give him an answer.

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What lies in the future for Matt DiBenedetto?

Naturally, the 29-year-old needs a win in order to advance in the Playoffs. Currently, he is in the drop zone, along with William Byron, Cole Custer, and Ryan Blaney. If he can bag a victory, he can eliminate the likes of Clint Bowyer from the competition.

Admittedly, he did not have such great races in Richmond and Darlington. So he will be using Bristol as his last gasp chance to squeak through.

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Obviously, Matt DiBenedetto is keen to stay on with Wood Brothers or get a shot at Team Penske. So, he will be banking on an excellent performance at his ‘favorite’ track.

Last year, he had to make way for Christopher Bell at Leavine Family Racing. It is also worth noting that he faces a similar situation with Penske. This is because the team is eager to promote the likes of Austin Cindric to the Cup Series.

They heavily expressed they wanted this to be a long-term relationship, something that we build for a long time to come,” DiBenedetto said.

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All those things — so that was very encouraging when I came over here. I do not want to go anywhere. I love driving for the Wood Brothers. It’s been a dream come true.”

Team Penske or a New Team? Austin Cindric Is Exploring Options for 2021 Season

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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