Matt DiBenedetto has finally done it. After 14 years of trying, the California-native has scored his first NASCAR National Series win as he was deemed ahead of Bret Holmes at the time of caution on a last-lap crash as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pack was barreling towards the start-finish line at Talladega Superspeedway.
Here is the absolutely wild overtime finish of Saturday, which led to DiBenedetto scoring his first-career win, as it happened live on the FS1 broadcast:
A WILD NASCAR TRUCK SERIES FINISH AT TALLADEGA ? pic.twitter.com/f30MFY3m4q
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) October 1, 2022
Initially, it looked like Bret Holmes had won the Chevy Silverado 250, as his No. 32 truck crossed the finish line ahead of everyone else, but as trucks had begun crashing just before the finish line, NASCAR looked at the replay to see which driver was ahead at the time of caution, and it was determined that it was DiBendetto.
Here is video of DiBenedetto being officially named the winner of the race:
What a finish at @TALLADEGA! pic.twitter.com/kUJNpLY1YE
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 1, 2022
Going into the trioval on the final lap it was Ben Rhodes that had the race lead as Corey Heim went for a ride behind Christian Eckes in the high lane.
That crash opened the door for Holmes to cut to the high lane in an effort to get around Rhodes. As Holmes went high, DiBenedetto cut to the low side of Rhodes. And as the three approached the finish line, more trucks continued to crash behind them.
Then, as they were feet away from the finish line, Rhodes and DiBenedetto made big enough contact to send DiBenedetto sideways, and it nearly lifted the No. 25 truck up off the ground.
However, the No. 25 truck settled and in the end, DiBenedetto was the race winner.
In all, 16 trucks crashed on the final lap of the race, those who crashed were: Kaz Grala, Hailie Deegan, John Hunter Nemechek, Blaine Perkins, Johnny Sauter, Tyler Ankrum, Jack Wood, Matt DiBenedetto, Kaden Honeycutt, Bayley Currey, Corey Heim, Stewart Friesen, Chase Purdy, Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes and Ben Rhodes.
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