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.
Sunday night was a career night for Matt Tifft.
Starting his first Coca-Cola 600 with Front Row Motorsports, the Cup rookie ended it with a career-tying best of 20th position after 400 laps of racing.
Longer than most 600-mile races, Sunday’s race saw 16 cautions, which led to a race of nearly five hours in total length. For Tifft, the grueling temperatures Saturday set the stage for what Sunday afternoon/night would be in his No. 36 Ford.
“It is a hot one here today,” Tifft said.
Qualifying 26th, Tifft wanted to stay on top of the track as it changes from day to night.
“We had a decent day,” he said of Saturday. “Hopefully we can improve on our starting position of 26th and have a good night.”
Running 25th on average throughout the night, the rash of cautions — along with continuous pit road penalties — kept Tifft in the game. Avoiding both issues gave Tifft a shot at a top-20 finish, a goal result for a small team like Front Row.
And while teammate David Ragan gambled and restarted first with seven to go, Tifft conserved his chances while running two laps down and brought it home 20th.
“First Coke 600 in the books, ended up P20, so our second top 20 of the year,” he said. “A lot of attrition, maybe a little nutrition being that hot.
“I’m certainly glad to bring it home with a great run. We weren’t the best at times but we kept working on it and never gave up. We came out of here with a top 20 which was a goal for the weekend. Im happy to have that.”
Coming off his best run of the year at Kansas (finishing 21st, leading his first lap and completing his most green-flag passes on a non-superspeedway race) Tifft may have momemtum on his side with a 20th.
The series heads next to Pocono Raceway, where Tifft scored a best finish of 10th in two Xfinity Series starts.
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
Auto Club: Paul Menard
Martinsville: Matt DiBenedetto
Texas: Chris Buescher
Bristol: Darrell Wallace Jr.
Richmond: Ryan Preece
Talladega: Martin Truex Jr.
Dover: Matt DiBenedetto[2]
Kansas: William Byron
Charlotte: Matt Tifft[2]
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.
Sunday night was a career night for Matt Tifft.
Starting his first Coca-Cola 600 with Front Row Motorsports, the Cup rookie ended it with a career-tying best of 20th position after 400 laps of racing.
Longer than most 600-mile races, Sunday’s race saw 16 cautions, which led to a race of nearly five hours in total length. For Tifft, the grueling temperatures Saturday set the stage for what Sunday afternoon/night would be in his No. 36 Ford.
“It is a hot one here today,” Tifft said.
Qualifying 26th, Tifft wanted to stay on top of the track as it changes from day to night.
“We had a decent day,” he said of Saturday. “Hopefully we can improve on our starting position of 26th and have a good night.”
Running 25th on average throughout the night, the rash of cautions — along with continuous pit road penalties — kept Tifft in the game. Avoiding both issues gave Tifft a shot at a top-20 finish, a goal result for a small team like Front Row.
And while teammate David Ragan gambled and restarted first with seven to go, Tifft conserved his chances while running two laps down and brought it home 20th.
“First Coke 600 in the books, ended up P20, so our second top 20 of the year,” he said. “A lot of attrition, maybe a little nutrition being that hot.
“I’m certainly glad to bring it home with a great run. We weren’t the best at times but we kept working on it and never gave up. We came out of here with a top 20 which was a goal for the weekend. Im happy to have that.”
Coming off his best run of the year at Kansas (finishing 21st, leading his first lap and completing his most green-flag passes on a non-superspeedway race) Tifft may have momemtum on his side with a 20th.
The series heads next to Pocono Raceway, where Tifft scored a best finish of 10th in two Xfinity Series starts.
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
Auto Club: Paul Menard
Martinsville: Matt DiBenedetto
Texas: Chris Buescher
Bristol: Darrell Wallace Jr.
Richmond: Ryan Preece
Talladega: Martin Truex Jr.
Dover: Matt DiBenedetto[2]
Kansas: William Byron
Charlotte: Matt Tifft[2]