NASCAR Home Tracks

X-FACTOR: New Team Figures Into Title Mix

It was only a month ago that he sat on his couch and figured it would likely provide his best view of racing in 2011.

Maybe a few races on television, maybe a few dozen more on the popular video game simulator iRacing.

Two years ago, Matt DiBenedetto was one of the nation's hottest driving prospects. In the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, DiBenedetto was teamed with juggernaut Joe Gibbs Racing – which had fielded the championship ride for would-be Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano in 2007 – and promptly won two of his seven starts that season.

That led to a part-time Nationwide Series effort in 2010, where he ran six races.

Fort those scoring along at home, that's a total of 13 races in two years. DiBenedetto said his last full-time season in any kind of race car came in 2007. That, however, will change this year when the 19-year-old California native will join two other drivers to form the startup X-Team Racing efforts in the K&N Pro Series East. DiBenedetto will compete full-time in the No. 15 Gear Wrench Toyota.

“I thought I was done racing for this year. I didn't have anything,” DiBenedetto said. “I thought I would be playing on iRacing or watching on TV and that was all I was going to have for the year. The chance to run the full season – it just sort of fell into place.”

Enter team owner Laerte Zatta, who DiBenedetto claims he “hounded long enough” to get into the full-time seat. Both Coleman Pressley, the son of longtime Nationwide Series fixture Robert Pressley, and Alex Bowman will join X-Team – at least to start – on limited schedules.

Both DiBenedetto and the younger Pressley have Nationwide Series experience. Yet both are thrilled to have the opportunity to prove themselves this year with X-Team, which is headed up by former Revolution Racing crew chief Robert Huffman and has support from both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota.

Best yet, said DiBenedetto, there's an attitude of winning that's already started to permeate even before the team has hit the track for a race.

“This goes back to what I learned in Nationwide and how I can apply it here,” he said. “One of biggest things I learned is being too conservative just hurts you. Going into every race there, it was 'Don't wreck, don't wreck, don't wreck.' With these guys, it's 'Go win the race. We don't care if you bring it back in a box as long as we win' – so now the goal going into every race is just winning and driving more aggressively. I'm not fearing anything, not worrying about what might happen.

“You look at it like you're fighting for your life out there on the race track.”

In a strange twist, that's how Pressley feels, too.

Unlike DiBenedetto, Pressley's deal with X-Team is on a race-to-race basis. Finish well enough in the season opener this weekend at Greenville Pickens Speedway's Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150, and he'll take the car to South Boston Speedway in two weeks.

Beyond that, unknown.

“I think we're both going to go out there and try and win races,” said Pressley, last year's UARA Late Model Series champion. “With me going race by race, maybe I'll go for wins a little harder than he might. But at the end of the day, X-Team Racing being one-two is what's important.

“When I found out Matt was going to run the whole year, Matt and I sat down. We're going to have to push each other and make each other better.”

Both drivers have proven they can win races and compete at a championship level, both within NASCAR and without. But like a lot of up and coming talent in pit areas all across the country, it's about having the opportunity.

DiBenedetto saw the writing on the wall at JGR.

“There was really limited opportunity at Gibbs. I ran a few East races and a partial Nationwide schedule, but it's hard without a lot of seat time,” DiBenedetto said. “And it's tough with the way the economy is – I needed a sponsor to run a full schedule in any of these series. With JGR, look at their Cup drivers – they're not going anywhere. They're pretty well set. Future didn't look that great there.”

But now he's happy to have a future here in the East Series.

“X-Team Racing, it's a new team, but they're looking to be behind me and expand,” DiBenedetto said. “They're not just looking to only be in the East Series. It's a team owner that can really get excited about things.

“It's a chance for me here to hit the reset button and do it kind of the right way. I ran a really limited schedule of Late Models in '08. It was a really quick jump for me to the Nationwide Series. In the past four or five years of my life, I still haven't done as many races as Kyle Busch does in a season. It was a heck of a jump for me.

“This is the right way to do it. It's a chance to get more seat time. I still need seat time in an East car or anywhere I can to get prepared for the next level in my career.”

Step one to that next level, after resetting, is at Greenville.

“I think anything short of winning and finishing one-two (for X-Team) would be disappointing,” Pressley said. “And short tracks where I feel most comfortable right now. Something my dad was successful at and my granddad was successful at.

“The driver can make or break your day really fast at short tracks.”

And the drivers X-Team Racing has lined up for itself could provide an instant upgrade for the new team. And having these guys on board is better than having them watching at home on television.

Or playing along on a video game system.

“Exactly,” DiBenedetto said with a laugh.