After brain surgery, Matt Tifft ready to drive again

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Matt Tifft is ready to race again following surgery to remove a slow-growing brain tumor.

Tifft, a 20-year-old who has driven for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity Series team and Red Horse Racing’s Camping World Truck Series team this season, has been sidelined since June after doctors discovered the benign growth.

After the surgery, recovery and tests to show he’s not at risk for seizures, Tifft said he has been cleared to test a Late Model on Sunday at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

"I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed being at the racetrack," he told reporters at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday. "I can’t say that I’ve ever been away from a racetrack for that long."

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Tifft has kept fans updated through a series of positive social media posts, but he acknowledged the situation has been frightening.

“The fact is that this is a very scary and a very real thing to go through,” he said. “I had a really great support group with my family and my girlfriend, just getting through the whole thing. The great news was that it was something that we caught very early, so the whole time, just realizing that it could be a whole lot worse, (I) was just keeping that in the back of my mind.”

Tifft said the benign tumor, a grade II diffuse astrocytoma or glioma, could return. In the immediate future, he will have to undergo an MRI every eight weeks to make sure it is not growing back.

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Doctors told him the surgery was like removing a wet cotton ball from a cup of water; they were able to get most of it out, but there always are going to be a couple strands left behind.

The recovery, he said, was made with one goal in mind: To drive a race car again.

“There were definitely some times where you’re bummed out and you just want things to go back to normal,” he said. “Then you just have to keep telling yourself that you have to do everything necessary to get back to that point.”

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Tifft said he’ll be anxious to see how his stamina holds up during the test on Sunday, particularly if it’s a hot day. Aside from that, he added, he’ll just be happy to drive again.

“I think I will be smiling from ear to ear,” he said. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to strap back in the seat. It will be a really great feeling.”

Tifft had two top-10 finishes in three Xfinity starts for JGR this season. He was supposed to do more races in the summer, but JGR has used several substitute drivers in his place.

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck