FORT WORTH, Texas – Recently-sidelined Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rookie Matt Tifft met with the media Sunday prior to the AAA Texas 500 and made his goals for the future very clear.
He wants to be back in the driver’s seat, and he’s willing to work hard to make that happen, but he wants answers just as badly.
Tifft was put out of action after a medical situation at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway prior to practice on Oct. 26. The Hinckley, Ohio, native later confirmed the episode as a seizure.
As he recounted his emotions and everything that happened over the last eight days, Tifft made it clear he was grateful to be back in familiar surroundings despite the recent chaos.
“It has been an interesting week for sure. It honestly has been a little crazy with everything that happened so fast,” Tifft told reporters. “I have my man Keller back here. He was honestly my first responder during the whole thing. It is crazy. You never know what is going to happen in life I guess. I was just talking about simulation stuff and the next thing I know I was on the ground and woke up in the Martinsville hospital and that is the next thing I remember.
“I am glad to be back here at the track and honestly I wanted to come back today just because it has been very stressful and a lot of anxiety just to come back. I had my seizure five feet behind me here. It is a lot of facing some demons with that and trying to get back,” he added. “Really, (I’m) just looking for answers now. The great thing has been that the brain scans have been really good. My brain tumor looked great, or the spot that it was in. Everything there looked really good … so the next step is getting an EEG where they hook up the probes to your head and figure out what is going on with the brain waves and see if that is it. If that is not it, then we go down the next chain of command to see what could have sparked it.
“(The seizure) was at 8:15. I remember seeing the time before I went down,” Tifft noted. “I had parked my truck 15 or 20 minutes before that. I was extremely fortunate that I was in the infield and not driving the car or anything that happened leading up that morning. It is crazy, but I feel fortunate to be here in good health and talking to you guys.
“I don’t know if I would have expected that fully after last Saturday, but I’m grateful for it.”
Tifft knows that, for sure in the short term, he won’t be able to participate in NASCAR on-track activities. He confirmed that he can’t even operate his passenger car until he works with doctors to understand what caused the seizure and then, hopefully, can treat it.
He said his immediate goal revolves around gaining that understanding of the situation.
“I don’t know,” said Tifft when asked if he’s worried this situation may end his driving career. “My goal right now is to find what caused it. I want to be back in a race car, but I don’t care about anything else right now other than finding out what caused this. Until then, nothing else matters. I have been through this stuff before and I know enough to be mature and smart enough to know that my health comes first. My goal is to get back in this race car and I want to be back as soon as I possibly can, but these next few weeks are going to be dedicated to finding answers with doctors to why this happened.
“It is crazy, but the racing part is going to come back and I will get back in a car one way or another. I do honestly believe that,” Tifft continued. “But I have to get my stuff figured out and see what sparked this to happen.”
In the meantime, Tifft is working to put himself back together across all facets before moving forward into the future.
“It is a lot to compartmentalize,” he noted when asked how he’s handling everything. “If you guys don’t mind, it is kind of a lot for me. I will answer further questions as the season goes on, but I just wanted to show face and be here in front of everybody and I thank you for you guys checking in. I will keep you guys posted on social media as it goes. It is a little stressful right now and honestly just dealing with the anxiety of it.
“I just have to take baby steps.”
Tifft has driven for Front Row Motorsports all season long, earning a top-10 finish at Daytona Int’l Speedway in July as part of his rookie season, and the organization remains fully supportive of their driver as he battles his most recent health issues.
“Matt came to us under a two-year agreement and we will be honoring that,” said Jeff Dennison, the Senior Director of Sales and Marketing for Front Row Motorsports. “We will still have Matt be here next year. That is our plan. Right now the plan is for Matt to drive for Front Row Motorsports until he tells us anything else, but right now we are committed to having Matt back in the car.”