By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Matt Tifft is one of three full-time rookies in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2019. However, he’s the only one with no prior Cup experience.
That changes Sunday when 22-year-old Tifft makes his debut for Front Row Motorsports in the Daytona 500.
Tifft has been taking notes through the busy two weeks of preparation for the Great American Race.
“It’s been busy, hectic at times but exciting at the same time,” Tifft told Kickin’ The Tires. “The pace of the Cup races are kind of weird just because everything this week is so stretched out. Just trying not to get too excited and just keep everything at bay.”
Finishing 19th in his Gander RV Duel, Tifft hopes he got the bulk of his mistakes out before the 200-lap race.
“It’s hard because as a rookie going into this never having driven a Cup car before, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted out of my car,” he said. “What it should feel like. Qualifying, the set up feels a lot different than the race setups. The Xfinity Series [cars] are more similar because you’re racing on the same thing.”
Factors such as passing, restarts and pit road were on his hit lists during the slew of practice sessions this week.
“We’ve done a lot of pit road practice since [the Duel],” he said. “Hopefully, we got all the things worked out of that. It’s a learning week so it’s great to get those things knocked out in the beginning. It would make for a long 500 if you make those mistakes then.”
Tifft has experience in his corner, with teammates Michael McDowell and David Ragan in assistance along with veteran crew chief Mike Kelley.
“It’ been a really good week for us,” he said. “We gained on it every day, working the bugs out of the car, working with Mike Kelley for the first time. We’re getting the lingo between each other.”
With 77 prior Xfinity starts, the mega step up to Cup on Sunday will be met with support from family, including his parents, fiancée Jordan, brother, sister, cousin and uncle.
“There’s a good bit of family support,” he joked. “We got my grandparents and everyone up in Cleveland watching as well. They’re all excited.”