After signing a six-race deal with Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) last November, 18-year-old Matt Tifft had anxiously been waiting his first opportunity to showcase his talents behind the wheel of the No. 51 ToyotaCare Tundra. The Ohio native was impressive in his KBM debut, qualifying third and running inside the top five for the majority of Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series N.C. Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Tifft ended the night with an eighth-place finish after losing a few positions during a pair of late-race restarts when he was trapped on the slow moving inside lane.
“I learned a ton tonight — I just need to get a little better with some of the stuff I did, but definitely a learning experience and got out of here with a top-10 finish,” evaluated Tifft of his first start with KBM. “I wanted to try to get a top-five finish for the 51 team, but I definitely learned a lot. The first 100 laps our truck was pretty good, but I struggled with the lack of experience to get the air going and trying to figure out how to handle the truck in the air. The last 30 laps I got a whole lot better, but we were just trapped on the inside on every restart. There’s definitely room for improvement by me. The trucks that we have here are really, really fast and the ToyotaCare Tundra was no different tonight. My biggest area of improvement for sure is just getting around trucks in traffic and making passes better and quicker for sure.”
After getting a feel for his ToyotaCare Tundra in the opening practice session on Thursday afternoon and posting the 11th-quickest lap, Tifft entrenched the No. 51 in the top 10 for the remainder of the weekend. He posted the third fastest time in Thursday night’s final practice session and followed it up on Friday by earning the third starting position after three rounds of knockout qualifying.
Tifft remained in the third spot for the first 10 laps of the race and then settled into the fifth position for the initial green-flag run. Tucked in behind the top-three drivers in the Truck Series standings and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standout Kasey Kahne, the astute University of North Carolina at Charlotte student went to school, gaining experience by logging laps and soaking in all that he could about the aero dependency of his Tundra.
After the field was slowed for the second time for a one-truck accident on lap 63, crew chief Jerry Baxter summoned his young driver down pit road. Tifft reported that his ToyotaCare Tundra was “tight center and exit,” so the over-the wall crew administered a four-tire and fuel stop with a chassis adjustment to try and free the truck up for the ensuing run.
The Ohio native was running in the sixth position during a long-green flag run when he radioed to his crew that the last adjustment had made his Toyota “free on both ends.” Baxter and crew were given one more chance to adjust the handling of Tifft’s Tundra after the field was slowed for the third time for a one-truck accident on lap 115. Knowing that track position was valuable, the veteran signal caller elected to make an air pressure adjustment on the four fresh tires they were putting on during this stop, allowing the No. 51 team to gain a spot for the restart which came with just under 30 laps remaining.
With the leader restarting from the outside lane, the inside lane got off to a slower start and Tifft surrendered two positions before falling in line in the seventh spot. Just before the field was set to take the white flag, a one-truck accident brought out the yellow and set up a green-white-checkered finish. Scored seventh, once again the youngster was forced to take the restart from the inside lane and lost another position over the final two laps of the race. The talented teenager recorded his third career top-10 finish across his seven Truck Series starts.
Kasey Kahne picked up his fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win in just six career starts. Tifft’s KBM teammate Erik Jones finished 0.005 seconds behind Kahne in the runner-up position. Matt Crafton crossed the stripe in the third position, while Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five finishers. Justin Boston finished ninth in his KBM Tundra.
The fifth race of the 2015 season featured five cautions for a total of 25 laps. There were 12 lead changes among six drivers. With five of 23 races on the 2015 schedule complete, the No. 51 team ranks fourth in the Owner’s championship standings – 27 points behind the No. 88 team.
Daniel Suarez will be back behind the wheel of the No. 51 ARRIS Tundra when the Truck Series resumes action on May 29 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Live coverage of the Lucas Oil 200 begins with the NCWTS Setup Show at 5 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1. Tifft returns to the No. 51 for his second of six races this season on June 13 at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Ill.
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