Sometimes issues on track carry on to the post-race period. This can sometimes lead to both drivers apologizing and sorting things out, but that is not always the case. Around the NASCAR scene, there are times when things take a violent toll, and although this time it is not NASCAR where this happened, it involved a former Cup Series driver.

Matt Tifft, who used to drive in the Xfinity Series in 2018, took on a local short-track race. At the ASA STARS National Tour event, Tifft was wrecked by Billy VanMeter and Evan Shotko. When Tifft tried to talk to the team after the race, it led to a physical altercation. Sadly, it ended with Tifft being pinned to the ground and one of VanMeter’s crew mates kicking him in the face.

Matt Tifft wants fans to let him know if he should press charges

Judging from the situation, Tifft is left with a bruise on his face, just narrowly missing his eye. In the heat of the moment, Tifft was asked if he would want to press charges on the crew member, and the former NASCAR driver declined. But he later took to Instagram after some reflection on the incident and decided to ask his fans what to do.

Matt Tifft started his video by thanking all his fans for the support that they gave him. Ensuring that nothing is broken and that he is fine despite a bruise next to his eye, he wanted to address the comments from fans who were wondering if he would press charges.

Tifft explained what was on his mind, saying, “First of all, I went over there to go confront the driver. I wasn’t expecting a fight; that happens, but what’s a chicken shit move really is getting thrown on the ground, and then somebody’s coming up and kicking someone while they’re on the ground. And that’s about as low as it gets.”

He explained how he was asked to press charges right after the incident, and he said, “I initially said no, but looking back on it, honestly, I don’t think I would press charges for myself. But what I don’t like is the fact that in that series of late model racing, a lot of 13, 14, and 15-year-old kids come up through there, and we don’t need somebody like that in the pit area who’s dangerous and obviously something’s wrong with them.”

Matt Tifft proves that he is not a selfish person by thinking of younger drivers when he goes through such a horrific incident. He ended the Instagram reel saying, “So I’ve been thinking about it more. We’ll see. Let me know what you guys think I should do, but yeah, well, we’ll see what happens there I will be back in racing the series; I had a lot of fun. It’s fun driving those cars, but the driver who takes out $200,000 worth of equipment and crew guys like that, they got no place in our sport.”

When it comes to sports, sportsmanship is a very important factor. Disagreements happen but when things take a turn to physical violence, actions must be taken. This is what the fans believed in the comments to this video, so let’s see what they had to say.

Fans are outraged at Billy VanMeter and his crew

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Without holding back, one fan mentioned, “What a terrible person and a coward.” They extended their support, saying, “So sorry this happened, Matt. Guarantee that none of the kids in the crowd look up to that guy.” The fan is pushing Matt Tifft to press charges against the crew member who did this to him, as they understand the driver’s point of younger drivers getting hurt. It’s one thing to wreck someone at a track and another to do something as illegal as assault.

This fan looked at the incident from a different perspective. They stated, “If this guy does this sort of thing when people are watching, what is he doing when they aren’t watching? When it’s two guys fighting, that’s one thing, but this needs to be stopped before somebody is seriously hurt.” The whole altercation was caught on camera, where 3 men are seen surrounding the driver. While one pinned Tifft down, another crew member came and kicked him when he was helpless. VanMeter’s crew member assaulted Tifft in front of hundreds of people and the internet and that makes fans wonder what would have happened if no one stopped him. The fan continued to say, “Pressing charges is the way to go in this instance. You can stop this from happening to someone else.”

“Nobody hurts Tiffty,” said a fan of the former NASCAR driver. They seemed to want to avenge the driver saying, “Send me his address,” as they would want to take matters into their own hands. Asking his fans to do something like this seems out of character for Tifft, especially because he did not press charges in the heat of the moment. From the looks of it, Tifft still does not look convinced to press charges; however, the only thing inclining him towards that decision is the fact that such incidents should not occur with younger drivers who are still minors.

“I would absolutely press charges against the guy,” chimed in another fan. They referred to the term that Joey Logano popularized in the NASCAR scene, calling the crew member’s action chicken sh*t. The comment continued to say, “What a chicken shit move by that idiot. He also should never be allowed to be in that series, nor at a racetrack.” The fan wants the crew member to be removed from the series and be banned from motorsports. Looking at how bruised Matt Tifft’s face was, having such a thing unfold is not in the spirit of racing.

This fan touched on the point that made Tifft change his original decision of not pressing charges, saying, “If you don’t press charges the next time it will be a 14-15 year old kid, and you’ll never forgive yourself. He needs to be held accountable for his actions.” Everything that happened with the VanMeter crew took place so fast that there was almost no time before Tifft was seen walking towards them before he was thrown to the ground.

Looking at how everything went down, do you believe that Tifft should press charges?