Pizza Ranch sponsors 19-year-old DiBenedetto

NEWTON - Pizza Ranch is already a fixture at the Iowa Speedway, but it will be represented on the track as well this weekend.

The Iowa restaurant chain is sponsoring 19-year-old driver Matt DiBenedetto, of Joe Gibbs Racing, for the third and final time this season as he takes the track for the NASCAR Nationwide Series U.S. Cellular 250 on Saturday.

“It's neat to have Pizza Ranch on board,” DiBenedetto said. “It's good to come here at their home base and represent those guys.”

DiBenedetto, originally from California, began racing go-karts on dirt tracks at age 7 and then moved to North Carolina in 2003 to focus on asphalt racing. That's where the youngster caught the attention of Joe Gibbs Racing and soon moved up the ranks and made his Nationwide debut in October 2009.

Pizza Ranch, which sponsored Kyle Busch in this race last year, was alerted by JGR and was in Memphis, Tenn. to see that first start. They were excited about the prospects of teaming with Dibenedetto immediately.

“We just thought Matt was a great fit for us,” Pizza Ranch restaurants Brand Director Jon Moss said. “He's a very solid young man. He comes from a great family. We decided we wanted to work with him.”

DiBenedetto is making his fifth start this season and sixth overall. Pizza ranch sponsored DiBenedetto for races at Nashville Superspeedway and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. His best finish is 10th this season. he just turned 19 years old and races against drivers who took the track before he was even born. He's not intimidated by that fact and tries to pick up pointers from the veterans.

“It's neat to be running against guys I was looking up to when I was younger,” DiBenedetto said. “When you're racing against them it's great. You learn a lot from those guys.”

Pizza Ranch has been pleased with his development and as they work on ironing out sponsorships for the 2011 season Dibenedetto is a prime candidate.

“We're hoping to put something together to continue on and just build the program,” Moss said. “We're very interested in Matt. Matt's been a great representative of Pizza Ranch. We'd love to go right along with him.”

“He's loaded with talent,” Moss said. “He seems like a perfect match.”

DiBenedetto appreciates the opportunity that the restaurant chain has provided him. He acknowledges they took a gamble to back an inexperienced up-and-coming driver.

“They have put a lot of faith in me, being a rookie, and for them to sponsor someone like myself just coming into the Nationwide Series. It means a lot to me,” DiBenedetto said. “I want to get a good run for them. If I got a top 5 it would be the ultimate goal.”

Even though he has yet to get behind the wheel on the Iowa Speedway track. DiBenedetto is confident his style can lead to a strong showing Saturday.

“It's a real sweeping race track with a lot of room to race,” DiBenedetto said. “There's not a lot of break it's a lot of momentum kind of more my style of driving.”

It would be fitting for DiBenedetto to find his way to the Pizza Ranch Victory Lane, where the winning driver is presented with a piece of Pizza Ranch pizza after the win. Moss said they wouldn't want to offer it to anyone more. has DiBenedetto been treated to a victory slice? 

“Not yet, but we're hoping to make it a first time this weekend,” DiBenedetto said. “It would be fantastic.”