| MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 9, 2015) – Matt Tifft will make his second of six starts this season for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) behind the wheel of the No. 51 ToyotaCare Tundra in the Drivin’ for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports in Madison, Ill. on Saturday night.
The 18-year-old was impressive in his KBM debut last month at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, running inside the top five for most of the event before getting caught on the slow-moving inside lane on a pair of late-race restarts and ending the night with an eighth-place finish. The Charlotte result equaled a career-best finish for Tifft, which he recorded in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in October of 2014. The Ohio native has recorded three top-10 finishes across seven career Truck Series starts since making his debut last October, including two in four starts this season. Two of his three top-10 finishes came at Martinsville, a flat track that has similar characteristics to what he will experience this weekend at Gateway.
While Saturday’s race will be Tifft’s first career start at Gateway, the supporting cast assembled around him is very familiar with the mile-and-a-quarter oval. Calling the shots atop the pit box for the young driver will be last year’s winning crew chief for the Truck Series race at Gateway, Jerry Baxter. Under Baxter’s guidance, Darrell Wallace Jr., qualified second and led a race-high 85 laps en route to victory in last year’s 160-lap event at the Illinois track. Wallace Jr., also scored a victory last October at Martinsville and overall in 2014 the duo combined to register an average starting position of 3.2 and average finish of 2.4 in four races on flat tracks of 1.25-miles in length or shorter on the Truck Series schedule.
Ted Musgrave, the 2005 Truck Series champion, will serve as Tifft’s eyes in the sky this weekend. Musgrave, an Illinois native, is a two-time winner at his home-state track, leading 140 of 160 laps in his 2001 Gateway win and then topping that by leading 158 of 160 laps in his 2005 victory.
With a strong supporting cast around him, Tifft is primed to post another impressive run for KBM this weekend. The talented teenager is looking to follow the blueprint established by teammate Erik Jones and use the success from a part-time schedule as a ‘Gateway’ to a full-time ride next season.
Matt Tifft, driver of the No. 51 NCWTS ToyotaCare Tundra:
Now that you have a race under your belt with the No. 51 team do you come into Gateway with more confidence? “For sure — everything went well at Charlotte and now I’ve got one race under my belt now with this team. I’ve never been to Gateway, but I feel like I’m more familiar with that type of track. There won’t be as many variables to deal with this week because aerodynamics don’t come into play as much as they did at Charlotte and that takes some experience to get used to.”
You’ve had two strong runs at Martinsville, is there something about flat tracks that fits your driving style? “I’ve always liked the tracks where you have to roll the center. The first track I ever raced on was a really flat half-mile, so you had to learn to roll the center. Racing in Wisconsin early in my career, those were the type of tracks they had up there. So I don’t know if you would say it fits my style, or maybe that it is just what I am most familiar with.”
Erik Jones turned a partial schedule into a full-time ride at KBM, is that a blueprint that you would like to follow? “We had a strong run at Charlotte and now we head into a stretch of races that I feel play into my strong suits. I need to capitalize on that and try and get my first win at KBM. If not a win, then to contend for wins and prove to people that I can run up front consistently and hopefully then we can do what Erik did and turn a partial schedule into a full-time gig.”
Jerry Baxter, crew chief of the No. 51 NCWTS ToyotaCare Tundra:
How does Gateway compare to some of the other flat tracks on the schedule? “It is very similar to the other flat tracks on the Truck Series schedule. The corners are a little different on each end, but you have a lot of hard braking getting into both of them. We’ll be unloading with a very similar setup to what we’ve raced at Martinsville, which is a track we’ve had a lot of success at the past few years.”
Do you feel like Matt will be able to translate his past success at Martinsville over to Gateway this weekend? “I really think so — he’s had two strong runs at Martinsville for other teams and has a lot of confidence coming out of a strong run in his first race with our team at Charlotte last month. We are bringing the same Tundra that Bubba (Darrell Wallace Jr.) won with in this race last year, so that should give us a good baseline going in.”
Matt Tifft’s No. 51 ToyotaCare Tundra:
KBM-07: The No. 51 ToyotaCare team will unload chassis KBM-07 for Saturday night’s Drivin’ for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Ill. The Tundra has produced eight wins across 20 starts since being built in 2010, including last year’s race at Gateway with Darrell Wallace Jr., and is the winningest Truck Series chassis at KBM.
KBM-07 Performance Profile:
Notes of Interest:
Matt Tifft 2015:
Matt Tifft NCWTS Career Stats:
Matt Tifft 2014
Matt Tifft 2013 * Finished fifth in his ARCA Racing Series debut at Toledo Speedway in May * Collected one top-five and three top-10 finishes across four NASCAR K&N Series West starts * Recorded three top-10 finishes across 13 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East starts
Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 51 Tundra:
KBM NCWTS Program
KBM NCWTS @ Gateway Motorsports Park
The Book on Baxter: Veteran crew chief Jerry Baxter is currently in his third season atop the pit box for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Under the California native’s guidance, Darrell Wallace Jr. finished third in the Truck Series championship standings in 2014 and led all series regulars in wins (4), laps led (623), driver rating (109.5) and fastest laps run (280). Combined in two seasons working with Wallace Jr., Baxter posted five wins, three poles, 963 laps led, 14 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes across 44 starts. In addition to his five wins at KBM, he boasts one other Truck Series win (Cale Gale, 2012) and one NASCAR XFINITY Series win (David Reutimann, 2007).
Baxter was the winning crew chief in last year’s Truck Series event at Gateway, when he called the shots as Darrell Wallace Jr., qualified second and led a race-high 85 laps en route to victory in last year’s 160-lap event at the Illinois track.
Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 Toyota Tundra 2015 NCWTS Box Score:
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