Editors Note: Story updated from earlier today when Tifft announced through his Twitter account that he will return to driving duties this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.
Matt Tifft, who had brain surgery on July 1, has been medically cleared to return to competition, NASCAR officials have confirmed to CATCHFENCE.com on Monday.
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 just over two months ago to remove a benign low-grade glioma and has been in recovery since.
The Hinckley, Ohio native has been undergoing private Late Model tests, including this afternoon (Monday) at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway and in simulators to re-acclimate himself to the fundamentals of racing. Results of Monday’s test were successful and Tifft announced on Twitter that he’ll return to the No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra for Friday night’s race.
With his clearance and announcement, Tifft will make his fourth Truck Series start in Friday night’s Truck Series American Ethanol E15 225 at Chicagoland Speedway.
“I’m excited to get back behind the wheel,” said Tifft. “I’ve really missed being at the track, so I’m very happy to be back and able to race the No. 11 Tundra with BrainGear and Surface Sunscreen on board.”
Testing at Hickory! Thanks for all the support, I am returning to @ChicagolndSpdwy this wknd with @RedHorseRacing!! pic.twitter.com/cpcmsgvcFr
— Matt Tifft (@Matt_Tifft) September 12, 2016
Last month at Bristol Motor Speedway, Tifft told the assembled media the Late Model tests were important to get back into a routine cycle and experience the typical scenarios a driver would experience throughout a race weekend.
“For myself, what I want to see is short run speed and how well I’m able to adapt to tire fall off, 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,” he said. “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.”
“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.”
While heat is not expected to be an issue this weekend in Chicago, should Tifft return, it comes at a pivotal time. Friday night’s race marks the end of the regular season where several drivers are hoping to stamp their way into the inaugural Truck Series Chase with a win. Ineligible to compete for a championship in either division since he has not run a full schedule, Tifft’s focus, however, is just getting back behind the wheel.
“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.”
Tifft, a 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.
The 20-year-old noted the surgery was considered a success and doctors removed much of the tumor as possible. As of Aug. 19, he required no further follow-up treatment but will undergo MRIs about every eight weeks to ensure the tumor is not growing back.
Tifft, a member of the 2015-2016 NASCAR Next class 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. One of his four remaining NASCAR XFINITY Series races in his original schedule includes next Saturday night’s VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 standalone at Kentucky Speedway.
His best finish in three starts in Tom DeLoach’s No. 11 Toyota Tundra was fifth at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Besides Chicagoland, Tifft was also originally slated to run Truck races for Red Horse this season at Talladega, Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead.
Additionally, Tifft is (tentatively) scheduled to compete in the last two ARCA Racing Series events for Venturini Motorsports at Kentucky Speedway on Fri., Sept 23 and at Kansas Speedway in October.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
Huge thanks to @carolinasimworx for their awesome work on this simulator setup!! pic.twitter.com/pZ799VM9o3
— Matt Tifft (@Matt_Tifft) September 12, 2016
