Former NASCAR team owner brutally attacked after crash

After being taken out of an ASA STARS National Tour race in Toledo, Ohio by eventual seventh place finisher Billy VanMeter, Matt Tifft approached VanMeter’s team in the pits.

As he approached the team to discuss the incident, things turned physical. Members of VanMeter's crew responded to Tifft swinging at VanMeter, and it turned into a brutal physical altercation. The 28-year-old Fairfax, Virginia native was put into a headlock before being thrown to the ground.

But if that wasn't enough, Bryan Glaze, a crew member from VanMeter's team, proceed to kick Tifft in the face while he was being held down.

While physical altercations are never necessarily a good thing, they are not uncommon in racing and typically don't lead to any significant disciplinary action. Emotions can run high, and everybody has pretty much accepted that.

But this was different; this was a crew member kicking a defenseless human being in the face while he was being held to the ground. Tifft was certainly no innocent bystander, though he later stated that he had no intention of starting a fight when he approached VanMeter.

Tifft was not initially planning on pressing charges, but he has since been reassessing his stance on the matter, noting that a change in heart would be because he wants to help save others from having to deal with this particular type of individual in the pits.

Glaze issued an apology on social media, stating he "honestly thought he [Tifft] just knocked my little brother Billy out". Although a video later produced by the VanMeter team showed that there was a physical altercation between the two, that was never the case. Glaze has since been dismissed by the team.

This is apparently not the first time Glaze has acted in a matter that is "not acceptable", which could further influence Tifft's decision to press charges.

Matt Tifft's NASCAR career

Tifft, whose epilepsy brought an early end to his NASCAR driving career before he could complete his rookie Cup Series season with Front Row Motorsports in 2019, formerly co-owned the Live Fast Motorsports Cup Series team, along with fellow driver B.J. McLeod, but he stepped away from the organization last November to pursue other racing opportunities.

When the team entered the Cup Series in 2021, Tifft became the youngest team owner ever at the age of 24.

The team operated the No. 78 Ford (later the No. 78 Chevrolet) with a charter for three full seasons, but they sold their charter to Spire Motorsports after the 2023 season and now compete part-time in only the superspeedway races.

McLeod is the only driver who has driven the No. 78 car this year, and he currently plans to return for one more start at Talladega Superspeedway next month.

Tifft finished in seventh and sixth place in the Xfinity Series championship in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and recorded a top Cup Series finish of ninth at Daytona International Speedway in July 2019.