Angela Aragon-Henslee
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A New Chapter Begins
February 18th, 2017
Twenty-year-old Matt Tifft's 2017 racing season began with the season-opening ARCA race, the Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 Driven by General Tire, at Daytona International Speedway. Matt successfully returned from brain surgery last July when a cotton ball sized tumor near his right temple was removed. Thankfully, the tumor was not cancerous.
For the first time since 2005, Joe Gibbs Racing will be fielding a full-time car in the ARCA series. Matt Tifft got the call to be in this ARCA race due to the fact that Riley Herbst, the rookie driver that is scheduled for most of the season for the No. 18 JGR car, is only 17 yrs old and hence too young to race on the superspeedway. A driver must be 18 yrs old before racing on this type of track.
The starting field was set by group qualifying. Matt was able to secure a second place starting position. Shortly after the green flag dropped, Matt dropped back to the 3rd spot. He was still in this spot when the first caution of the race occurred on lap 6 involving 3 race cars. Matt stayed out on the track during the caution period. He quickly moved back up to the 2nd spot not long after the restart on lap 12.
Matt maintained the 2nd spot when the second caution of the race occurred ten laps later due to debris on the backstretch. He brought the 18 NOS Energy car down pit road for a gas-only pit stop. The 18 car did win the battle off of pit road. However, Matt restarted in the 7th spot on lap 26 due to the fact that 6 race cars did not come in for pit stops. Matt would be back in the top 5 by lap 27.
The third caution of the race occurred on lap 44 for a single car spinning off of turn 4 and into the grassy area down the frontstretch. Matt was in the 4th spot at this time. After the pit stop, Matt was back in the 17th spot for the restart on lap 49. On the next lap, there would be a multi-car incident that would lead to the first red flag session of the race. Matt was in the 14th spot when this happened.
The green flag finally came back out with 24 laps to go. Matt was in the 15th spot. Another multi-car incident brought out the fourth caution of the race with 15 laps to go. Matt had dropped back to the 18th spot. The fifth and final caution flag of the race came out with 6 laps to go for a 3 car incident down the frontstretch. All 3 cars had hit the wall hard. Matt was back in the top-15 at this time and sitting in the 12th spot. On the next lap, the race went back under the red flag since one of the wrecked cars was sitting upside down. Also, the driver side was on the track. There was no way for the driver to get out on his own. So the safety crew had to carefully put the car back on its wheels before attempting to get the driver out of the car.
The race ended up being called official with 5 laps remaining. The main reason was due to time constraints. There was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race (The Clash) that was scheduled later on in the evening at the same track. Matt Tifft was scored with a 12th place finish.
Follow and chat with me here: @GirlyWithATwist
February 18th, 2017
Twenty-year-old Matt Tifft's 2017 racing season began with the season-opening ARCA race, the Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 Driven by General Tire, at Daytona International Speedway. Matt successfully returned from brain surgery last July when a cotton ball sized tumor near his right temple was removed. Thankfully, the tumor was not cancerous.
For the first time since 2005, Joe Gibbs Racing will be fielding a full-time car in the ARCA series. Matt Tifft got the call to be in this ARCA race due to the fact that Riley Herbst, the rookie driver that is scheduled for most of the season for the No. 18 JGR car, is only 17 yrs old and hence too young to race on the superspeedway. A driver must be 18 yrs old before racing on this type of track.
The starting field was set by group qualifying. Matt was able to secure a second place starting position. Shortly after the green flag dropped, Matt dropped back to the 3rd spot. He was still in this spot when the first caution of the race occurred on lap 6 involving 3 race cars. Matt stayed out on the track during the caution period. He quickly moved back up to the 2nd spot not long after the restart on lap 12.
Matt maintained the 2nd spot when the second caution of the race occurred ten laps later due to debris on the backstretch. He brought the 18 NOS Energy car down pit road for a gas-only pit stop. The 18 car did win the battle off of pit road. However, Matt restarted in the 7th spot on lap 26 due to the fact that 6 race cars did not come in for pit stops. Matt would be back in the top 5 by lap 27.
The third caution of the race occurred on lap 44 for a single car spinning off of turn 4 and into the grassy area down the frontstretch. Matt was in the 4th spot at this time. After the pit stop, Matt was back in the 17th spot for the restart on lap 49. On the next lap, there would be a multi-car incident that would lead to the first red flag session of the race. Matt was in the 14th spot when this happened.
The green flag finally came back out with 24 laps to go. Matt was in the 15th spot. Another multi-car incident brought out the fourth caution of the race with 15 laps to go. Matt had dropped back to the 18th spot. The fifth and final caution flag of the race came out with 6 laps to go for a 3 car incident down the frontstretch. All 3 cars had hit the wall hard. Matt was back in the top-15 at this time and sitting in the 12th spot. On the next lap, the race went back under the red flag since one of the wrecked cars was sitting upside down. Also, the driver side was on the track. There was no way for the driver to get out on his own. So the safety crew had to carefully put the car back on its wheels before attempting to get the driver out of the car.
The race ended up being called official with 5 laps remaining. The main reason was due to time constraints. There was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race (The Clash) that was scheduled later on in the evening at the same track. Matt Tifft was scored with a 12th place finish.
Follow and chat with me here: @GirlyWithATwist
Image Courtesy: Nigel Kinrade/LAT Photographic
