Saturday, November 15, 2014

KBM Adds Boston, Tifft To Truck Series Lineup

Justin Boston
Kyle Busch Motorsports has announced the addition of Justin Boston and Matt Tifft to the team’s driver lineup for the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.

Boston will run a full-time schedule competing for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award, while Tifft will run a six-race schedule and share the driving duties behind the wheel of his Tundra with KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing developmental driver Daniel Suarez competing for the Truck Series Owner’s Championship.

Boston completed his second full-time season in the ARCA Racing Series in 2014, finishing fifth in the championship standings and collecting wins at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway in May and Madison (Wis.) International Speedway in August. In addition to his two wins, he collected three poles, 241 laps led, seven top-five and 13 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.6 across 20 starts this year. Overall in two seasons of ARCA action, the Maryland native has posted two wins, five poles, 15 top-five and 29 top-10 finishes across 41 starts and finished inside the top-five in the championship standings both years.

The 25-year-old also made two NASCAR Nationwide Series starts for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2014, finishing ninth in his series debut at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta and following it up with a 12th-place finish at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. He made one Truck Series start this season, but was relegated to a 30th-place finish at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway getting caught up in a late-race accident.

Matt Tifft
“Being able to drive full time in the Camping World Truck Series next season is definitely a big step in my career and I can’t thank everyone at KBM enough for this opportunity,” Boston said. “KBM builds really fast Toyota Tundras and I know that I’m going to be in a position to win races next year -- as a driver that’s all you can ask for. I was only able to make one Truck Series start this year, -- so there are going to be some learning curves -- but I’m confident that my experience running full-time in the ARCA Series the last two seasons has helped me prepare for the challenge.”

Tifft has made 12 ARCA Racing Series starts the last two seasons, registering six top-five and eight top-10 finishes. The Ohio native registered a career-best runner-up finish in this year’s September event at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. In addition to his time in the ARCA Racing Series, the 18-year-old has competed in the NASCAR K&N East and West Series, posting one top-five and nine top-10 finishes across 24 starts.

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte freshman has competed in two of the last three Truck Series races this season, including an eighth-place finish at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in September, and is entered in the series finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway this weekend.  

“The opportunity to drive Toyota Tundras for Kyle Busch Motorsports in six Camping World Truck Series races next season is one that I’m extremely proud of being provided with,” Tifft said. “KBM is such a well-respected team in the Truck Series and I’m excited to be able to go out next year and prove what I can do behind the wheel of top-notch equipment. I’m confident that this part-time schedule will allow me to showcase my abilities as I work towards securing a full-time opportunity for 2016.”

“Adding these two talented young drivers to the driver lineup at KBM next season gives us the opportunity to compete for the Rookie of the Year honors with Justin, a Driver’s Championship with Erik (Jones) and the Owner’s Championship sharing a truck between Matt, myself and Daniel,” Busch said. “Justin was able to pick up a couple ARCA wins this season and had solid runs in his starts for JGR in the Nationwide Series. Matt knocked on the door of victory a couple times in the ARCA Series while running a part-time schedule and had a nice run in his Truck Series debut at Martinsville last month. We’re looking forward to seeing both of them behind the wheel of our Tundras next year.”

Announcements on truck numbers, sponsors and crew chiefs for both drivers are forthcoming.

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