For the past several years, Darlington Raceway has
been celebrating their annual Southern 500 weekend by commemorating throwback
paint schemes from the past. This year, Matt Tifft will be honoring two men who
taught him pretty much everything he knows about racing today, his father
Quinten Tifft and David Hilliker.
“You could say David Hilliker was my childhood dirt
track hero,” Tifft said in a press release.
Hilliker used to drive for his father’s Dirt Late
Model team when Tifft was growing up. A member of the Michigan Motorsports Hall
of Fame, Hilliker was victorious over 125 times on dirt and asphalt.
“I’m really excited to recreate this paint scheme for
Darlington,” said Tiftt. “When I was little, my dad would bring home this car
in the offseason and we’d tear it down together. That was where I first learned
how to work on a race car.”
Tiftt began racing go-karts at 11 years of age. Since
then, he moved his way up to stock cars and eventually was able to run his
first full-time year in the ARCA Menards Series in 2014.
Capturing his first career top-five finish in both the
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and Xfinity Series in 2016, Tiftt has had
to overcome serious health issues before making his way up to the Monster
Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Doctors discovered later that year a brain tumor had
formed; thankfully, after a successful operation, Tiftt climbed back in a race
car 11 weeks later.
“My dad has been such a huge influence throughout my
career, and I couldn’t have gotten to this point without him. I’m grateful for
the opportunity to give him this kind of recognition and can’t wait to see his
face when he sees the car in person for the first time” he said.
This weekend, Tiftt will make his first career Cup
Series start at Darlington Speedway honoring two men who made in impact in his
motorsports career.
