On Tuesday evening, Matt DiBenedetto gave a “More transparent update” on Instagram regarding what went wrong with his sponsorship deal. He says that he had a deal signed with a sponsor, then, “They lied and didn’t follow through on their end”, and as a result, he had to pull out of the deal. He did not go into any further detail about who the sponsor was and what specifically they lied about.
We still don’t know all of the details, but, DiBenedetto claims that he had a signed deal with a sponsor, and that sponsor lied. Obviously, if a sponsor intentionally misled him, then that is no fault of his own. It does seemingly confirm that he sent out the “Pen” emoji on December 28th because he legitimately had something signed.
It is a bit odd to make this kind of a post because of a sponsor deal instead of a driver contract, but, sponsors are very important to racing. Drivers often need to bring funding to get rides at any level of motorsports. That’s what makes the deal falling through a tough hole for DiBenedetto to climb out of.
Even if the sponsor deal falling through was through no fault of his own, he still remains without major funding for the 2024 racing season. The last two seasons in the Truck Series, every race except for one was sponsored by Rackley Roofing, which is the roofing company for Rackley W.A.R. team owner, David Frost. Now, DiBenedetto is out of funding, which makes it very difficult to find a ride.
DiBenedetto is not the only one to fall victim to this, as a bad sponsorship deal has shut down an entire race team before. Chip Ganassi Racing had to shut down its Xfinity Series program before the 2019 season because the CEO of DC Solar, the team’s primary sponsor, had their home raided. This cost Ross Chastain his full-time seat at CGR in the Xfinity Series for 2019.
Aside from the funding issue, DiBenedetto has plenty of things keeping him from potentially finding a ride. The Xfinity and Truck Series season is less than a month away, and rides are being gobbled up left and right. Combine that with the reputation that DiBenedetto has regarding ugly exits in NASCAR, and that makes for a tough hill upwards.
We already dug into DiBenedetto’s reputation amongst race teams in the article below, so, for a more in-depth look, read that. The cliff notes version is that he left The Wood Brothers, and he later posted a video on social media calling the team “Broken”. He also announced he was leaving Rackley W.A.R. in the middle of a Playoff run, and that team later got rid of him before the season ended.
There is a lot that is holding DiBenedetto back from finding a full-time ride in 2024. Some of which are his own doing, and others are out of his control. It seems finding a full-time ride may be just out of reach,
What does the future hold for Matt DiBenedetto? Will he pull off a hail mary and find a full-time ride?
Lionel Racing finally confirmed the first wave of 2026 NASCAR Authentics 1:64 scale diecast for Monday morning, with the line of retail-exclusive diecast featuring a new look for the new year.
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Chase Pistone, a former competitor on the short track racing circuit in addition to NASCAR’s National Series, has passed away. Pistone, now a successful Legends Car owner, was 42.
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Three races in, the 2026 season is finally starting to show its hand. COTA shifted narratives, exposed weaknesses, and raised new questions about contenders, pretenders, and everything in between.
From substitute drivers being forced into action to points gaps growing faster than expected, COTA delivered more than just a road course chess match. There were momentum swings, reputation hits, and at least one young driver stacking up enemies before stacking up results.
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