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NASCAR Cup Watkins Glen
DiBenedetto admits "I'm fighting for my life" after WGI top-ten
Matt DiBenedetto continues to show promise behind the wheel of the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota Camry with a sixth-place finish at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
Nick DeGroot
Edited: Aug 5, 2019, 9:45 PM
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DiBenedetto's result at Watkins Glen was his fourth top-ten of the year, all coming in the last seven races.
After forming a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing prior to this season and switching to Toyota, Leavine Family Racing has shown notable improvement on the track since the season-opener where DiBenedetto led the most laps in the Daytona 500.
His best result came at Sonoma Raceway though where he placed fourth in the No. 95 LFR Toyota Camry. Two weeks later, he finished inside the top-five again at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
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"That was another good run man," he said after placing sixth at The Glen. "That was so much fun. It's always fun driving through the field at these road courses. I don't know, I guess we're road course aces here. It's not my background but it's just fun, I love doing it."
He later added: "It’s fun to get so much support from all our team, Toyota, JGR and Procore. I just hope I can be a part of this for a long time to come.”
An uncertain future
Despite the recent results, the 28-year-old's future with the team is uncertain as JGR looks to find room for rising star Christopher Bell.
"I’m fighting for my life," he admitted. "Everybody knows. They see the headlines and all the mess in the media. I'm just fighting for my life and my ride is all I love for so I hope I can stay with this team ... I hope it’s for a long time.
"I've known forever that this is what I'm meant to do, this is what I live for and live, eat, sleep and breathe. I know Victory Lane is coming, I hope they keep me around on this team for a long time to come so I can take them to their first victory."
This is DiBenedetto's fifth season full-time at the Cup level, having driven for GoFas Racing and BK Racing before joining LFR.
This season is set to be his best yet though, currently sitting 23rd in the championship standings with 50 laps led, two top-fives and the aforementioned four top-tens.
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