DiBenedetto in a video on Twitter revealed he had lost sponsorship and was unlikely to make the raceGETTY IMAGES
NASCAR drivers Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, along with HOFer Darrell Waltrip, have each pledged $5,000 to help get fellow driver Matt DiBenedetto "on the grid" for Sunday's Monster Energy Cup Series event at ISM Raceway after he revealed he lacked sponsorship, according to Tim Southers of AUTOSPORT.com. DiBenedetto took to Twitter in a short video to "reveal he had lost sponsorship and was unlikely to make the race." Hamlin and Waltrip responded to the video with "pledges to donate towards DiBendetto's cause." Meanwhile, Harvick said that the KHI Management marketing agency he founded would also "put forward $5000." DiBenedetto offered to "put the logo of the Denny Hamlin Foundation -- which raises awareness and funds to help children with cystic fibrosis -- on his car if he makes the grid at Phoenix" (AUTOSPORT.com, 3/6). DiBenedetto has asked fans to help him "connect with notable businesses in order to secure further funding" (MOTORSPORT.com, 3/6).
DIFFERENT TWIST: YAHOO SPORTS' Nick Bromberg wrote this is "yet another sign of just how screwed up the sponsorship system can be in NASCAR." DiBenedetto’s GoFas Racing No. 32 car has a charter, which is a "guaranteed entry" into each and every Cup Series race. But it is "safe to say that what DiBenedetto’s team would earn for showing up at the track without a sponsor would not cover its expenses, especially if the team wanted to try to be competitive the entire race and use multiple sets of tires." A lease on a set of tires is "approximately $2,000, meaning the money donated by Hamlin, Harvick and Waltrip would cover fewer than eight sets of tires." Bromberg: "It also raises some bizarre conflict of interest possibilities; what other sport’s participants willingly give their opponents money so they can show up and compete against them?" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/6). Yahoo Sports' Jay Busbee tweeted, "Great to see DiBenedetto getting support. But step back and ask how it is that NASCAR has come to the point that he even needs to ask" (TWITTER.com, 3/6).
