Following his first full-time season in NASCAR’s premier division, Matt DiBenedetto will be back with BK Racing in 2016.
Returning to the wheel of the No. 83 Toyota Camry, the 24-year-old will be paired with crew chief Gene Nead, who sat atop the pit box for DiBenedetto for eight races last year.
Along with the re-signing of DiBenedetto, the organization will be adding veteran David Ragan to its driver lineup, as first reported by Motorsport.com and later confirmed by the organization.
A year after competing for three organizations, the Georgia native will pilot the No. 23 car, replacing Jeb Burton, who drove the car for the final 12 events of the year.
Ragan ran the majority of the 2015 season under the Michael Waltrip Racing banner. When the team announced it was closing, he was left without a ride after starting out the year with Front Row Motorsports before departing the organization for Joe Gibbs Racing, replacing eventual Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch for nine races.
DiBenedetto finished runner-up in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year battle to Brett Moffitt in 2015. Finishing 35th in the driver standings after not attempting the Daytona 500 and missing the next two races to start the season, he recorded 14 top-30 results, outperforming his two teammates, who had a combined 10 top-30 finishes.
“Last year I learned a lot from everyone here at BK Racing and I’m looking forward to having a full notebook heading into the season,” DiBenedetto said in a press release. “Ron, Gene and the team have put in a lot of work over the off-season and we are all looking forward to Daytona.”
Dustless Blasting will be on board DiBendetto’s car beginning with the season-opener at Daytona, followed by several other events throughout the season. In 2015, the company was featured on his car six times. Additionally, Cosmo Motors will continue to be a primary sponsor on the No. 83 car after partnering with DiBenedetto for 10 races last year.
There is no word on JJ Yeley’s status after he split the season in the Nos. 23 and 26 cars for the team.
Our cars got adopted. @BKRacing_2383 pic.twitter.com/WiI3L1mDYG
— Michael Waltrip (@MW55) January 19, 2016
BK Racing purchased the majority of MWR’s cars during the off-season. The organization is contemplating running three cars; however, as of now, the plan is to focus primarily on Ragan and DiBenedetto.