‘Dega Yields Breakthrough Xfinity Top Five For DiBenedetto

Matt DiBenedetto (99) battles Carson Kvapil at Talladega Superspeedway. (Jacob Seelman/Race Face Digital photo)

TALLADEGA, Ala. – The site of his lone NASCAR national series win once again delivered a special moment to Matt DiBenedetto.

The Viking Motorsports driver netted his first career top-five finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a fifth-place effort in Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.

It’s the best result of the season so far for the team, improving upon the organization’s previous best finish of 11th to start the year at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway back in February.

“Solid finish. Proud of the guys. We didn’t have any crazy close calls,” DiBenedetto said. “Stage one and two, we had to work on the car a little bit. I was just loose, and we were learning some things about how the car would run and what lanes were moving.

“At the end, it was crazy. I was bummed on the last lap that the caution came out. This Viking Motorsports team brought me a fast car. The ECR engines always run really good at [superspeedways]. Chevys are fast and I’m thankful we got a top-five out of it.”

DiBenedetto took the white flag on the fringes of the top 10, but found himself in a favorable position on the bottom lane exiting turn two behind eventual runner-up Jeb Burton and defending series champion Justin Allgaier.

When then-leader Connor Zilisch was turned off the front bumper of Jesse Love and down into the inside wall, DiBenedetto was prepared to push Allgaier forward and generate momentum for the final half lap, but the caution flag waved to freeze the field and end the race short of the finish line.

“I would’ve loved to see it play out … that was the same spot I was in when I won the Truck race here … so I wanted to see how it’d play out coming to the checkered,” DiBenedetto noted. “Either way, [a] top-five is really good for this team.”

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race that DiBenedetto was referring to was the 2022 event at Talladega, which currently stands as DiBenedetto’s lone win across NASCAR’s three national touring series.

DiBenedetto is in his first full-time season with Viking Motorsports after he and the team ran a partial schedule in 2024. They came away with three top-10 finishes in 28 races, netting a best run of seventh on two separate occasions, at both Michigan Int’l Speedway and Iowa Speedway.

Viking came onto the scene last season as an affiliate of Ryan Sieg’s RSS Racing team with C.J. McLaughlin at the wheel.

However, after two DNQs in four races, the team sat out the race at Circuit of the Americas before returning to action at Richmond (Va.) Raceway with DiBenedetto, who’s been their driver ever since.

Following 2024, Viking Motorsports separated from RSS and rebranded their No. 38 Ford Mustang to the No. 99 Chevy. The team sits 24th in the regular season standings through 11 races, but has closed to less than 100 points outside the playoffs following Talladega.

The crusade continues for Viking and the rest of the NASCAR Xfinity Series circuit with the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Race day coverage begins Saturday, May 3 at 2 p.m. ET on The CW, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.