Matt Tifft Earns 14th-Place Finish in First Start for Red Horse Racing

Nineteen-year-old Matt Tifft climbed aboard the No. 11 Toyota Tundra for his first race with Red Horse Racing and brought home a 14th-place finish at Kansas Speedway. After unloading on Thursday, Tifft was fast right off the bat, putting up the third, 13th and 11th fastest speeds in the three practice sessions. On Friday afternoon, the Hinckley, Ohio native transferred the No. 11 machine into the second and final round of single-truck qualifying and secured the seventh starting spot for the Toyota Tundra 250. As the sun set over the 1.5-mile facility, Tifft took the green flag. He reported a slight tight condition to crew chief Scott Zipadelli early in the race, and then felt a vibration in the right front tire, so he hit pit road for four tires under green flag conditions on lap 25. Tifft stayed out and took the wave around when the caution clock expired, then under subsequent caution periods was able to get back on the same pit sequence as the rest of the field. With 105 laps to go, Tifft had worked his way into the top 10 and as high as second-place. A four-tire stop under caution dropped the No. 11 back to 20th, but Tifft methodically worked his way back through the field, then after another four-tire stop restarted in the eighth position with 40 laps to go. On a restart at lap 135, the No. 11 sustained damage from another vehicle, resulting in a loss of handling. Tifft was able to survive a final green-white-checkered restart and finish in the 14th position.   

 

 

“Our No. 11 Toyota Tundra was really fast tonight. Scott (Zipadelli) and the guys did a great job making adjustments on it all night, and they did well getting our track position back for us. We ended up with some damage on a restart at the end, so our result wasn’t what it could have been. I’m looking forward to going to Dover (International Speedway) next weekend with this team and I think our Tundra will be fast there as well.” 

RHR PR