Matt Tifft qualified sixth and was running inside the top 10 late in Saturday’s fred’s 250 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, before being relegated to a 23rd-place finish after his Waves for Water Tundra was one of 10 trucks caught up in an accident that brought out the red flag with two laps remaining. Tifft was running in the eighth spot on the outside lane when the action got three wide down the backstretch. Contact to his right rear turned him down the track into the middle lane and set off the 10-truck tussle.
“Our Waves for Water Tundra was really good before we got caught up in that late accident,” Tifft said. “For a while there the first half of the race, we were in really good track position, came down for four tires and we kind of lost that track position. We never got the break we really needed to get back in the top-five kind of where we were. The Waves for Water Tundra was good all the way through there and we thought we may be able to make up a few spots there at the end with that restart with six to go or whatever it was and made a little run on the outside and that’s kind of when that happened whatever it was. Just was going straight and got turned, so that’s unfortunately Talladega.”
Tifft started from the sixth position on the outside lane, but with the inside lane being the preferred way around the 2.66-mile tri-oval fell back to the 11th position in the opening laps. After making his way to the inside lane, the Ohio native move forward and was scored in the sixth position when the first caution of the race occurred on lap 12. He communicated that his Tundra was a little unstable in the rear end, so when pit road opened crew chief Jerry Baxter summoned his young driver for a visit to give him a full tank of fuel and a wedge adjustment.
The Waves for Water Tundra emerged from pit road scored in the third position for the lap-18 restart. As the next run continued, Tifft settled into the lead group in the fifth position, where he remained when a caution slowed the field for the second time on lap 30. This time Baxter ordered up a four-tire and fuel stop with a trackbar adjustment to provide more stability to the rear end of the truck.
The UNC Charlotte student took the ensuing restart from the 12th position on the outside lane, but began to lose spots to drivers on the faster-moving inside lane. A long green-flag run ensued and set up a round of green-flag pit stops. On lap 72, Tifft gave up the 15th position to join his KBM teammates on pit road. After getting fresh right-side tires and a full tank of fuel, he returned to the track and was scored in the 13th position when pit stops cycled through.
A stalled truck brought out the third caution of the race on lap 81. Tifft restarted from the 13th position on the inside lane and was able to pick up three spots by the time the next caution flew one lap later. Unfortunately, that meant he was scored in the 10th position on the outside lane when the race resumed on lap 90 and two laps later the 10-truck accident occurred.
When the red flag was lifted, the No. 51 team cleared the fenders and made repairs to both the front and rear end of the heavily damaged Tundra. The team put four fresh tires on and Tifft returned to the track to limp around for the final laps.
Timothy Peters collected his first Truck Series win of 2015 and the ninth of his career. Brandon Jones finished in the runner-up position. Mason Mingus finished third, while Tifft’s KBM teammate Erik Jones was fourth. Tyler Reddick rounded out the top-five finishers. Christopher Bell in KBM’s No. 54 Tundra came home 13th.
The 19th race of the 2015 season featured six cautions for a total of 25 laps. There were 15 lead changes among nine drivers.
With four races remaining on the 2015 schedule, the No. 51 Tundra ranks fifth in the Truck Series owner’s championship standings, 93 points behind the series-leading No. 4 team.
Daniel Suarez will be behind the wheel of the No. 51 ARRIS Tundra when the Truck Series resumes action Oct. 31 at Martinsville (Va.) Superspeedway. Live coverage of the Kroger 200 begins with the NCWTS Setup Show at 1 p.m. ET. Tifft will make his final start of the 2015 season behind the wheel of the No. 54 Tundra at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway on Nov. 13
KBM PR
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