Matt Tifft, driver of the #11 Waste Connections Inc/BrainGear Toyota, stands on the grid during Salute to Veterans Qualifying Fueled by Texas Lottery for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Striping Technology 350 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 4, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo – Jerry Markland/Getty Images

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JGR Introduces Matt Beckman as 2017 XFINITY Series Crew Chief

Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) announces today Ohio-native Matt Tifft will pilot a Toyota Camry full-time in 2017, across all 33 races of the NASCAR XFINITY Series. The 20-year old rookie, a part-time driver currently in the Joe Gibbs Racing stable, who accomplished his first top-five result and first pole-qualifying run in only nine races in 2016, has now earned a larger opportunity to compete in NASCAR’s XFINIY series, appropriately themed “Names are Made Here.”

Tifft has run a limited schedule in both the XFINITY Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series over the last three seasons, making a combined 31-career starts. In these early stages of his career Tifft has recorded one top-five and eight top-ten finishing spots in the Camping World Tuck Series and one top-five, five top-ten finishes and a pole-qualifying position in the XFINITY Series. Tifft has also recorded time in NASCAR’s K&N Pro West, K&N Pro East and ARCA Series and the X-1R Pro Cup Series. Continue reading →