Sometimes, when the start isn’t right, the entire journey can go awry. And this is what’s happening with the No. 38 RSS Racing Ford driver, Matt DiBenedetto. When the season started, he was without a ride. Not to forget that he was the driver who took Wood Brothers Racing to the playoffs in the Cup Series. But, yet, he didn’t have a ride in the truck series, Xfinity, or Cup series. However, he eventually joined Viking Motorsports and took the wheel of the #38 Ford Mustang, partnering with RSS Racing. 

However, his season isn’t really going the best way. Neither his car nor his equipment is working the way he would like it to. And in fact, he performed his season-best start at P10 for the SciAps 200 race. But this race, instead of being headlined his ‘season’s best,’ turned out to be a gut punch for him.

Matt DiBenedetto and the problem of the three lug nuts

NASCAR takes safety extremely seriously and no mishaps are tolerated by them. Just recently, on May 24, when Corey Heim faced disqualification at the Charlotte Truck Series race. And sadly, even DiBenedetto ended up with the same fate. While he finished p17 in Saturday’s SciAps 200, he was relegated to the back of the 38-car field. Post-race inspection at New Hampshire Motor Speedway revealed not one or two but three unsecured lug nuts on his car’s right rear wheel. How does that even go past the pit crew’s notice? 

If it were just one or two lug nuts, NASCAR would have just handed him a fine. But three accounts for disqualification. The issue at hand involved the infringement of Sections 8.8.10.4 and 10.5.2.5 in the NASCAR Rule Book for the Xfinity Series, specifically concerning tires and wheels, and safety penalties and penalty options.  

He was already not having a great season and wasn’t on the run for the Xfinity Series championship due to not starting in several races, and this disqualification led him to be relegated further at the owner’s standings to p33. This leaves the team in a tough spot. They need to be working extra hard if ever they want to sustain themselves till the very end of this season. Things really don’t look good for him and the team. The disqualification decision by NASCAR officials was not taken lightly by fans, who were left divided on social media.

Fans are confused over DiBenedetto’s penalty

A disqualification isn’t a new thing by NASCAR, in fact, many others like Chase Elliott too were disqualified in 2021 for having loose nuts. However seems like DiBenedetto has great supporting fans because they stood by him. And even called out the decision as being unfair. One fan said, “How does that get you DQ’d? That’s so incredibly dumb”

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He just has not been having the best time with the car it seems. And still seems to get decent results. One fan said, “So many people in these comments basically hate this dude for no reason. Gotta love it! He’s a helluva driver and keeps proving it in cruddy equipment. Keep it up Matty D.” His fans sure are hardcore supporters!

The entire journey that he has had this season has been with a sea of troubles. From being rejected and dejected to having poor results and, now, disqualifications—he can’t seem to catch a break. Highlighting this, one user said, “Poor Marty D!!!!  Can’t catch a break!!”

This disqualification came due to the three loose lug nuts. And this isn’t a driver’s fault, but more of a crew’s fault. One user said a single word but that was enough to say everything–“three.” Indeed, he lost three and that was the nail in the coffin for him. 

And it’s not like the pit stop was a short one. He actually had a long pit stop and the crew had plenty of time working on the car yet the result. One fan said, “23-second pit stop and still had loose lugs. Wow.”

But NASCAR considers these serious safety concerns and they cannot let these slide. These rules are in place for everyone’s safety in mind. For Matt DiBenedetto, the road ahead is going to be tough. He and the team need to push extra hard in the next few races starting Nashville Superspeedway to keep their hopes alive.