By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With plenty of new drivers in new places in 2019, one small team in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will have both sides of the “newbie” coin for their new driver: Plenty of help and plenty to learn.
Matt Tifft has never run a Cup race, but he’ll be starting the Daytona 500 this Sunday. The team is Front Row Motorsports, a veteran crew that has bolstered two wins in their 15-year span, however, has struggled to make that crucial step from top-25 speed to top-10 contention.
The 2019 season will see a few changes for Front Row, including a new shop and new body style toward the Ford Mustang. But two things remain the same with drivers Michael McDowell and David Ragan each returning to the organization this year.
For Matt Tifft, that may be the best news yet, as both veterans are looking forward to playing the mentor role in 2019.
“For David and I, it’s our job to help Matt in that transition,” McDowell said. “There’s going to be some learning curve. But now is the time for Matt with this new rules package, format, style of racing. If there was a year you’d want to be a rookie in Cup, this is the year. I tell Matt that he timed it really well.”
With Ragan scoring the team’s first win at Talladega in 2013, the Georgian, through multiple team changes along the way, hasn’t missed a Cup race since 2006. Having countless teammates in that span, Ragan knows Tifft will handle the position well.
“I know Matt is driven to be the best racecar driver he can be,” Ragan said. “He’s been on the simulator a lot, watching film, asking the right questions. He challenges me to think outside the box. To not be complacent with what’s going on.”
At 22 years old, Tifft is 10 years younger than Ragan and 11 years younger than McDowell. To help both veterans understand Tifft’s position for this year, they have looked back on their rookie seasons in Cup, where teammate assistance was taken a little differently.
McDowell joined Michael Waltrip Racing in 2008 to kick start his Cup career. However, with Dale Jarrett retiring in the early weeks of the season and Waltrip handling other duties, McDowell did a lot of self-evaluation during his start.
“When I came in to Michael Waltrip Racing, I would have had a great mentor with Dale Jarrett. Dale was a great friend and really helped me those first handful of races when he was still around. As soon as he was out of the car and transitioned into his new role, he wasn’t around that much.
“David Reutimann and I had become good friends, but it took him a year before he would even really have a real conversation. I talked to him about it 10 years later and he was like, ‘Man, you came in all full of energy and bouncing off the walls and that just wasn’t me.’
“Michael Waltrip was a good teammate but he was running a race team, he was on TV, he was on SiriusXM and he was at the tail end of his career as well. He would give you nuggets, but he didn’t have a whole lot of time.”
McDowell wants to make sure Tifft isn’t in the same position this season.
“It’s something we’ve taken personally because we didn’t have that,” he said of himself and Ragan. “We had a great teammate, but teammates weren’t supposed to do that when we came in. They weren’t helpful. They just wanted to beat you. To have the opportunity to help in and not let him fall flat on his face is something David and I are going to work hard at.
“Just to be able to help somebody transition, I love that. Coaching and mentoring, I have done that my entire life with kids in go carts and sports cars. I enjoy that aspect. That is how Matt and I met when he was driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, they hired me to work with him on the road courses. I like that mentoring part of it.”
Ragan, on the other hand, had plenty of teammates during his rookie season in 2007. Roush Fenway Racing had five full-time cars, giving Ragan more than enough talent to bounce questions off.
“Teammates in this sport — we want to help each other, but we’re not here to babysit,” he said. “The Roush teammates certainly didn’t babysit me. Anything I asked, they were there, but you got to show you want it, too.
“I wish I would’ve asked more questions when I was 21, 22 years old. I thought I could come into this sport, go fast and I knew what to do. I found out quick I was wrong.”
Ragan believes Tifft has the right attitude: Low ego, high ambitions.
“Young kids today have to come in hungry, ask the right questions, show they want it, and they can’t come in entitled with a big ego,” he said. “Matt is 180 degrees opposite of that. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, asks the right questions. I’ll answer every question he has but I’m not here to babysit others.”
Tifft knows the season to come will have its challenges, but to have two veterans alongside him for the full year, he’s excited to take the student role.
“Michael has been awesome, we have been friends for years,” Tifft said. “He has been a great teacher and has taught me about everything I know about road courses. He is such a great teacher. David Ragan has been awesome too and he is such a great plate racer.
“The biggest thing they have been able to offer up is open insight of anything I have questions about and answering those things while also offering their own advice. They have been great about helping me and I am sure I will rely on them a lot through the whole season.
“It is important for me to keep asking them questions and work with them well.”