By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.
Matt Tifft was projected to have the toughest season of 2019’s rookie class in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Driving for the smallest team of the three rookies, Tifft’s Front Row Motorsports Ford wasn’t far off from the top teams in Sunday’s Ticket Guardian 500 from ISM Raceway.
In fact, it was a career day across the board for the 22-year-old. It started with the best qualifying effort of his short Cup career on Friday, qualifying his No. 36 in 30th spot. From there, Tifft stayed up to pace to finish only one lap down in 20th spot at the end of 312 laps.
The finish was eight spots higher than his previous best and kept a Front Row car in the top 20 for the third time in the opening four rounds of 2019.
For Tifft, the top-20 day was an achievement.
“A huge day for us. A top 20, 20th place,” Tifft said. “An awesome fight all weekend long by these guys. A lot of awesome momentum heading into California next weekend.”
Unlike the prior two races this year, Sunday saw multiple on-track incidents lead to nine total cautions on the day. The stoppages helped Tifft stay on the lead lap while improving on the car.
The final 74-lap run, particulary, saw upward gains from Tifft.
“It was just great execution,” he said. “I picked them off a little bit at the end, we had our best run with some top-five speed at different points through that last run.”
“I’m excited to see what we can build on top of it,” he concluded. “We’re not where we want to be just yet but it’s definitely a huge step in the right direction.”
Tifft now enters Auto Club Speedway, the last leg of the West Coast Swing, with two prior Xfinity starts on the 2-mile track, finishing a highest of eighth in 2018.
Catch up on Mid-Pack with Zach HERE
List of 20th-Place Finishers in 2019
Daytona: Clint Bowyer
Atlanta: Daniel Hemric
Las Vegas: Austin Dillon
ISM: Matt Tifft
Mid-Pack with Zach: Matt Tifft, Front Row Motorsports
By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.
Matt Tifft was projected to have the toughest season of 2019’s rookie class in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Driving for the smallest team of the three rookies, Tifft’s Front Row Motorsports Ford wasn’t far off from the top teams in Sunday’s Ticket Guardian 500 from ISM Raceway.
In fact, it was a career day across the board for the 22-year-old. It started with the best qualifying effort of his short Cup career on Friday, qualifying his No. 36 in 30th spot. From there, Tifft stayed up to pace to finish only one lap down in 20th spot at the end of 312 laps.
The finish was eight spots higher than his previous best and kept a Front Row car in the top 20 for the third time in the opening four rounds of 2019.
For Tifft, the top-20 day was an achievement.
“A huge day for us. A top 20, 20th place,” Tifft said. “An awesome fight all weekend long by these guys. A lot of awesome momentum heading into California next weekend.”
Unlike the prior two races this year, Sunday saw multiple on-track incidents lead to nine total cautions on the day. The stoppages helped Tifft stay on the lead lap while improving on the car.
The final 74-lap run, particulary, saw upward gains from Tifft.
“It was just great execution,” he said. “I picked them off a little bit at the end, we had our best run with some top-five speed at different points through that last run.”
“I’m excited to see what we can build on top of it,” he concluded. “We’re not where we want to be just yet but it’s definitely a huge step in the right direction.”
Tifft now enters Auto Club Speedway, the last leg of the West Coast Swing, with two prior Xfinity starts on the 2-mile track, finishing a highest of eighth in 2018.
Catch up on Mid-Pack with Zach HERE
List of 20th-Place Finishers in 2019
Daytona: Clint Bowyer
Atlanta: Daniel Hemric
Las Vegas: Austin Dillon
ISM: Matt Tifft