Full Throttle

Joe Gibbs Racing has signed 17-year-old Matt DiBenedetto to its driver development program. DiBenedetto will test in NASCAR’s Camping World East Series program and run in an undetermined number of races starting this spring.

“We think Matt has a real bright future and JGR is proud to have him join our driver development program,” said JGR president J.D. Gibbs. “Matt is someone we’ve been keeping an eye on for some time now and he has proven to us that he has the raw talent to be successful.”

Rated highly by the David Smith scouting service DiBenedetto recently drove a David Stremme owned Super Late Model in Speedfest 2009 at Lanier Speedway in Braselton, Georgia.

He qualified 12th out of 35 entries and came home as the top finisher with a crate motor in the 11th spot. The field was filled with many talented drivers with Kyle Bush winning the event.