Jeff Gluck

USA TODAY Sports

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Victory celebrations were held in two places Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

One was the traditional spot atop an infield building, where Carl Edwards marked his 26th career victory by posing with the Food City 500 trophy.

The other was on pit road, where a longshot named Matt DiBenedetto exulted with his family and underfunded BK Racing team after a sixth-place finish no one saw coming.

Guess which location was filled with people who couldn’t hold back their tears?

“They finished sixth?” Edwards said. “Man, that’s unbelievable. That’s probably tougher than what we did.”

Carl Edwards avoids teammates' tire woes in victory

NASCAR has few fairy tales in the age of haves and have-nots. There are the four powerhouse teams — Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing — who have combined to win 57 of the past 58 Sprint Cup races. And then there’s everyone else. BK Racing is among the everyone elses.

Most days, even finishing in the top half of the field is a major accomplishment for the organization, which simply doesn’t have the same level of resources or equipment as its competitors.

So to finish sixth at Bristol? The 24-year-old DiBenedetto was having trouble making sense of it all.

“We’re like, ‘Man, if we can run top 20, that’s a great day,’” he said. “A top-15 is like a win. Sixth? I can’t even fathom it.”

Nearby, his family was alternating between disbelief and joy. His father, Tony, was handing out hugs like Halloween candy (“Unbelievable! That was awesome! Awesome!” he said to anyone who would listen). His mom, Sandy, was exchanging did-that-really-happen reactions with well-wishers. Brother Austin — a 14-year member of the Air Force who happened to be home on leave — was just trying to take it all in.

But forget the result for a moment. DiBenedetto’s mere presence in the Cup Series is remarkable.

Tony DiBenedetto was channel surfing one day when Matt, then 5 asked him to stop on a NASCAR race.

“I said, ‘What the hell do you want to watch that for?’ ” Tony told USA TODAY Sports. “He said, ‘Because I like it.’ ”

Father and son started watching the races every week, and eventually Tony took his son to a go-kart track near their home in Grass Valley, Calif., (a small city between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe).

To his surprise, Matt was good. He won his first karting championship the next year, and the family later moved to North Carolina so Matt could pursue a racing career.

Chase Elliott continues to climb rookie ladder

But racing without a sponsor costs money -- even in Late Models -- and the DiBenedettos weren’t rich. Tony and Sandy had made many economic sacrifices in order for Matt to race, and ultimately it didn’t make financial sense to continue doing so.

Matt, though, refused to accept his career was over.

After winning rookie of the year in a Late Model Series, the then 13-year-old told a banquet audience: “I know everybody’s heard the news — I don’t have a ride for next year. But I still believe I’ll be a NASCAR driver.”

If only it was that simple. DiBenedetto got opportunities — he drove an Xfinity Series car for Joe Gibbs Racing for a handful of races in 2010 — only to watch them disappear without continued sponsor support. DiBenedetto figured his career was over about seven times, he said.

But in each instance, there was one more chance, one more glimmer of hope to keep him going.

“It’s like winning the lottery seven times in a row,” he said. “It’s unbelievable it’s happened the way it has.”

NASCAR driver introduction songs for Bristol race

These rides didn’t just fall out of the sky. After the 2014 season, when his options looked bleak, he tried to leverage every possible contact — and was relentless in doing so.

“I wore people out,” he said. “I was blowing up every phone number of every person I could possibly think of all day. I’m glad I stayed persistent, but I’m more thankful for those people.”

BK Racing and team owner Ron Devine — who was in the middle of the happy scene Sunday — gave him a shot in 2015. And it’s paid off so far.

A 20th-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway last month gained respect in the garage (Edwards sought him out for congratulations on the run). But sixth? That result will get noticed all over the NASCAR world.

“Wow, we passed Kevin Harvick and guys like that who I looked up to as a kid and wore their T-shirts and hats,” he said. “I was the biggest fan in the stands. Tony Stewart was like my idol.”

DiBenedetto looked around at Bristol’s towering seats. Nearby, his family and team still were basking in the moment of what felt like a validation for an incalculable amount of sacrifice and hard work.

The kid who wanted to race in NASCAR because he saw it while his dad was flipping through the channels? Yeah, he made it.

“To be racing with these guys and being around them, I still feel a little like a fan,” he said. “Maybe I need to get over that, but I don’t know if I ever will.”

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck