Matt Tifft's event year reached a zenith on Friday, with word that Joe Gibbs Racing will give the promising young driver a full-time ride in the Xfinity Series in 2017.
It's another big step for Tifft, 20; and for the Gibbs organization, which is bursting with developmental talent and has four drivers seeking a final-four berth in the Chase for NASCAR's Sprint Cup.
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Tifft is one of those good old-fashioned feel-good stories. Four-plus months ago, he had brain surgery. He was back in a car by Sept. 24's Xfinity race at Kentucky. He was fifth in that race.
This weekend, Tifft drives Gibbs' No. 18 car at Texas.
With Xfinity and Truck Series racing experience, Tifft is ready for his next big role. He credited team owner Joe Gibbs and the JGR organization for their mentoring and support, especially in a trying year.
Tifft hopes to drive in Sprint Cup competition someday, but for now JGR has four solid drivers — Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth. It loaned out Erik Jones to ally Furniture Row Racing, for whom Jones will drive a new second car next season. And in Xfinity, Daniel Suarez is a star.
Tifft replaces Jones in the development process. Gibbs also has Cody Coughlin in the Truck Series. Tifft and Coughlin are both 20-year-old Ohioans.
MORE: Full announcement from Joe Gibbs Racing
This week's Xfinity race, the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge, is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday at Texas. Tifft also will drive in Friday's Truck Series race, the Striping Technology 350, scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.
Tifft apparently will continue to drive in the Truck Series next season.
Tifft had surgery for removal of a low-grade glioma, a slow-growing tumor found during treatment for a back injury.
Speaking to media members at Texas on Friday, Tifft recalled his news conference at Bristol in which he discussed his recovery from July 1's surgery.
"It's so cool to be sitting here today announcing our plans for next year and being full time," Tifft said.
"I feel like I can grow a lot as a driver with all the information JGR gives me and relying on our teammates and just that ability to race in and out every week."
Consider this question and answer:
Q: Did you ever think what you would do if you couldn't race again?
Tifft: "I got out less than 24 hours later from brain surgery and that motivation I had ever since then I never thought in my mind that I wasn't going to do this. … I thought maybe it's going to take a long time or I didn't know when the timing would be, but the whole time I was planning on getting back in the car. … It's definitely a very tough thing to go through and I'm not sure how I would have reacted without having the racing piece of it. … It was a very strange and tough process for me to go to, but I never started looking for different routes to go. I just always wanted to be back in the car."