Matt Tifft underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor on Friday afternoon and the NASCAR XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series driver came out of surgery Friday night and is recovering, according to his personal Twitter account.
UPDATE: Matt is out of surgery and in recovery. We will update you with more information tomorrow morning. Thank you all for your thoughts.
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Matt Tifft (@Matt_Tifft)
July 2, 2016
Tifft was supposed to drive the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at Daytona International Speedway in Friday night’s Subway Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola but JGR announced early in the week that Tifft would not make the start as the 20-year-old will undergo surgery for removal of a low-grade glioma in the brain. David Ragan drove the No. 18 to the pole and the team kept Tifft’s name above the door.
Per JGR’s announcement on Tuesday, the slow-growing tumor was found during treatment and evaluation for a recent disc condition in his back. Tifft is expected to undergo surgery and rehabilitation soon and once cleared by physicians is expected to return to racing. The release noted the JGR rookie is anxious to return to the race track as soon as possible.
In six series starts this season, the driver has two top-10 finishes and earned the 21 Means 21 Pole Award at Talladega.