BRISTOL, Tenn. – Cleared by his doctors, NASCAR driver Matt Tifft has started the process he hopes will allow him one day to return to competition.
Tifft, driver of the No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry in the NASCAR XFINITY Series underwent brain surgery on July 1 to remove a benign low-grade glioma plans to test a late model car on Sunday at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway – the first step in reacclimating himself to the fundamentals of racing.
“The team we’re going with is one that I knew from when I did some Late Model racing back in Florida so I think it will be a pretty low-pressure environment,” he said.
“For myself, what I want to see is short run speed and how well I’m able to adapt to tire falloff, but just the normal stuff that you want to see and how I can adapt and feel the car again just with handling characteristics and stuff like that. Make sure that I’m totally good to go with all that. Also long runs and trying to run as many laps as possible to get a whole
fatiguing day so at the end I can feel that is equivalent to a race day.
“I think that we’ve definitely looked at, if possible, a race before getting back in, but we just have to get through this test on Sunday and I’m really looking forward to it. The big thing is just getting in the heat. Obviously, it’s been so hot lately, it’s a great test for that and being fatigued in the car and still seeing what that’s like. I’ve pushed myself in the gym probably harder than I ever did before this happened and just for that time when I do get in the car that I can hopefully be at that level or even better than where I was before.”
Tifft, a 20-year-old student at UNC Charlotte, was originally scheduled to run 13 races in the XFINITY Series for JGR before his diagnosis in late June. The tumor was found during routine scans for treatment of a disc condition in his back, which forced him to sit out his first race at Iowa Speedway on Father’s Day weekend.
Tifft had won one pole at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and scored a pair of eighth-place finishes in the three races he completed before beginning treatment.
“It’s great to see everybody. I’ve really missed being at the race track,” said Tifft in his first public appearance since surgery Friday morning at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
“This was something we couldn’t mess with, or wait around. It hadn’t taken a cancerous form yet but in the future it very well good have.”
The Hinckley, Ohio native said the surgery was considered a success and doctors removed as much of the tumor as possible. At this time, he requires no further follow-up treatment but will undergo MRIs about every eight weeks to ensure the tumor is not growing back.
Less than two months since the surgery, the 20-year-old is once again driving a passenger car and has returned to normal physical activity. He also recently underwent a test to ensure he was not susceptible to seizures.
“Doctors told me I am at a point now where I can actually begin to work back towards racing,” Tifft said. “This weekend I’m going to test a Late Model and get back in the seat. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to that.
“It’s been a couple months since I’ve been in a car. I’m curious to as to what my level of stamina will be. I don’t know what the exact steps are going to be (to get back to racing). I think the biggest thing is to first get back in a race car.”
Since being first diagnosed, Tifft said his goals was always to get back in the race car.
“Honestly, if you look back at the video updates that I did, the reason I was able to stay so positive and so driven during this whole time was that one goal of getting back in the car,” he said.
“I had a really great support group with my family and my girlfriend. The great news was that it was something we caught very early. The whole time I was realizing that it could be a whole lot worse. I just need to keep that in the back of my mind.”
As for his expected emotions on Sunday?
“I think I will be smiling from ear to ear,” he said. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to strap back in the seat. It will be a really great feeling.”
In addition to running NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and XFINITY Series, Tifft is (tentatively) scheduled to compete in the last two ARCA Racing Series events for Venturini Motorsports
at Kentucky Speedway next month and Kansas Speedway in October.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
