Former NASCAR driver Matt Tifft was fined for his involvement in a post-race scuffle in which he was kicked in the face by a crew member from another team.
The incident, which Tifft called “over the line,” happened after the Glass City 200 at the Toledo Speedway in Ohio.
Tifft said that after the race, he attempted to confront the driver of the No. 23 car, driven by Billy VanMeter, who Tifft alleged wrecked several cars in the race, including himself.
Only nine cars actually finished, including VanMeter, while Tifft was among seven cars that did not finish due to accidents.
Tifft posted a video of the incident online that showed him approaching VanMeter’s crew after the event.
“Hey, what the f***?!” Tifft said as he walked toward VanMeter.
The driver was quickly subdued by a crew member, who put him in a headlock and brought him to the ground.
“Get out of here! You came to the wrong place!” the crew member is heard saying.
Tifft said he initially had no problem with the altercation being broken up by the crew member and subsequently a racing official.
“I had no problem with that. I instigated the confrontation, he was trying to break it up and protect their driver, I’m all good with that. … [The official] did a great job and was doing nothing but his duty to break up the fight.”
However, Tifft said that after he had clearly given up on the situation and was on the ground, another crew member named Bryan Glaze kicked him in the face.
“Under no circumstance do you just line up a kick, like you’re in the NFL, to someone’s face,” Tifft said in an interview with Blaze News. “That’s just over the line. And to add to it, he not only connected with my face but ended up kicking the official too.”
Tifft was making his first comeback since leaving NASCAR in 2019 due to a brain tumor and an epilepsy diagnosis. For the Toledo race under the American Speed Association, he explained that he had heard about VanMeter beforehand.
“I was warned he was notorious for wrecking drivers, and unfortunately I fell victim that day,” the driver said.
In a caption for the video, Tifft wrote, “Hopefully this is the last time getting ‘VanMetered.'”
‘I won’t press charges to anybody else on the team.’
The ASA Stars National Tour quickly took action against all parties involved, fining Tifft $250 and deducting 25 points from his tour score. He was also placed on probation for the remainder of the calendar year.
Crew member Glaze was suspended indefinitely from all events and fined $2,000. The car owner and team were placed on probation.
Driver VanMeter also lost 25 points and was placed on probation for the remainder of the calendar year.
After seeing the video, Tifft said he is “seriously considering” pressing charges against Glaze due to how “egregious” his actions were.
“I won’t press charges to anybody else on the team, again no problem with a little scuffle, but I am seriously considering it with Bryan because of the fact that aspiring young drivers come through this series to develop, and they don’t need to be around people like this.”
Tifft concluded by stating he will not be retaliating against VanMeter in any way and hopes that he will race clean in the future.
The driver said that he wanted to channel all the drama into attention toward a good cause when he appears at the Akron Children’s Hospital Dance for Kids event on October 18.
“Watch me dance (terribly) on stage with some kids for a good cause.”
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Fearless, Nascar, Driving, Asa, Sports
