NASCAR’s Pro Invitational Series on the “iRacing” platform has generated considerable interest from racing fans during the postponed 2020 season. It has also seen some unique moments, including Alex Bowman letting his dogs drive for him. Matt DiBenedetto upped the ante by racing in a giraffe onesie and getting disqualified for questionable actions.
The six-year Cup Series veteran, who previously raced in only underwear, posted a photo prior to Sunday’s virtual race. He was standing next to his “iRacing” setup wearing the giraffe onesie and a pair of slip-on skate shoes. DiBenedetto appeared to be fired up for the race, but he did not last until the end. He was disqualified after intentionally ramming fellow driver Ryan Preece and ultimately finished 27th. He later recapped the race, as well as his actions, while wearing the giraffe onesie.
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Post race recap. I do not feel very intimidating currently but you guys can still sense my rage pic.twitter.com/I8uK1lMNrr
— Matt DiBenedetto (@mattdracing) April 19, 2020
“All right, I just finished the race. I figured I would take some time to cool down and then make my video,” DiBenedetto said. … “Yes, to answer your questions, I did run the whole race in my giraffe onesie. I got real hot, and I sweat a lot. So anyways, this one wasn’t quite as smooth as some of the others.”
DiBenedetto explained that Preece had “chopped down on his nose” and cut him off. The cars collided, but he assumed that Preece had realized that the incident was his own fault. DiBenedetto said that this was not the case, however, due to his newfound rival driving up and purposely “crashing the hell” out of him.
Despite having the incidents cause multiple cautions and mess up the race, DiBenedetto said that he had to get Preece back, so he purposely crashed into him. This caused another caution and resulted in his disqualification. He considered retaliating with violence but did not due to remembering that it’s just a game.
“After it happened, I could have knocked him right in the head, but I remembered it’s just for fun,” DiBenedetto said. “Seriously though, for all of the younger viewers and everybody out there, fighting does not resolve anything. Don’t do that. Don’t take that advice.”
The race did not end how DiBenedetto hoped, but he will have another opportunity to secure a victory on April 26. The Pro Invitational Series will be heading to Talladega for another virtual race. Whether he can finish the race is important, but there are now questions about whether DiBenedetto will be dressed in another onesie.
