Viking Motorsports, a relatively new name on the circuit, has spent its inaugural 2025 season working diligently to establish a foothold in the notoriously competitive Xfinity Series. Operating the No. 99 Chevrolet, the team has been focused on building a solid foundation, involving consistent finishes, finding reliable sponsorship, and proving that the team can prepare competitive equipment week in and out.

Throughout the season, the team showed flashes of promise, notably achieving a standout 5th-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this year. However, consistency remained a challenge, with the team facing several DNF results and an average finish hovering in the low-20s. This illustrated the uphill battle new, single-car operations face against powerhouse organizations like Joe Gibbs Racing and JR Motorsports.

The man at the center of the first 30 races for the team was veteran driver Matt DiBenedetto. He brought years of experience, including an earlier Truck Series victory at Talladega and multiple near-wins in the Cup Series. While he did secure the team’s best finish, his overall performance in the 2025 season included only 1 top-10 and 1 top-5 and an average finish of 23.133.

For a driver who has previously navigated difficult departures from organizations like Leavine Family Racing and Wood Brothers Racing, his tenure with Viking Motorsports has now reached an unexpected end. In a statement made on X, Viking Motorsports announced that Connor Mosack will drive the No. 99 Chevrolet for the final 3 races of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, beginning at Talladega.

Jeremy Lange, general manager of the team, said, “We’d like to thank Matt for his contributions throughout our inaugural season. He played a meaningful role in establishing the foundation of this team, and we wish him the best.”

The team also noted that the lineup for the 2026 season will be announced at a later date. However, in the 2025 season, Mosack has split his time across both the Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. In 2023, he ran a majority of the Xfinity schedule with Sam Hunt Racing, where he earned a career-best 5th-place finish at Watkins Glen International road course.

While his Xfinity Series stats in 2025 have been limited to a handful of starts with teams like SS-Green Light Racing, he has also been actively competing full-time in the Truck Series for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.

However, despite his compelling track record, fans are not convinced. The sudden firing of Matt DiBenedetto is very unsettling to some as they seek to ‘boycott’ the team, ahead of one of the most crucial stretches of the season.

Social media erupts with backlash over NASCAR team’s sudden move

One fan thoughtfully said, “I will wait to hear both sides but this now is a bad look for you guys. You can also remove my name from your hood at Martinsville. I donated to have my name on Matt’s hood. Not Connor Mosack. I’m not asking for a refund because the kids don’t deserve that but I want off the hood.” 

Some fans think that if the No. 99 Chevrolet no longer belongs to DiBenedetto, then neither should their donations to have their names on the hood of his car. They support DiBenedetto, not Mosack.

Another fan sarcastically added, “So…replacing a guy that has won at Dega and finished top 5 for you in the spring with a guy with 2 combined starts at true superspeedways in the top 3 series with a best finish of 32nd. Very smart Viking. Very smart indeed.” 

In contrast to DiBenedetto’s stats, Mosack’s limited experience at true superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega in the top-3 NASCAR Series has further confused fans. He has had only 2 combined starts at those specific tracks in the Xfinity and Truck Series before this move, with a 32nd-place finish at Daytona in the Truck Series and a 34th-place finish in a superspeedway in Xfinity.

Some others shared the sentiment, saying, “I think we all knew this would eventually happen with a new team, but geez.. you could have let the guy who gave you a baseline for your sh–boxes to race at the track he actually won at.” 

With the team’s single best finish of the 2025 season of 5th-place at Talladega with DiBenedetto, and the driver’s one and only NASCAR national series last-lap overtime victory in the Truck Series race at Talladega in October 2022, fans think it is the worst time for the team to announce his departure.

Another fan half-joked, “>driver builds up team to be competitive >team decides to sack driver for talentless kid with money Many such cases. Rest in pi–.” Apart from Mosack, DiBenedetto had also lost his ride in the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford after the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season to the rookie Harrison Burton. And fans are now drawing a parallel between the two incidents.

While some DiBenedetto fans finally thought that it was time to bid the team goodbye, along with the driver, writing, “I can unfollow you now.” The veteran had been the sole reason that some fans were following Viking Motorsports, making it look like the team’s biggest mistake of letting him go.

But in the world of professional racing, the pursuit of victory is often tragically superseded by the cold, hard logic of the balance sheet.