Sam Hornish Jr. will make his return to NASCAR racing a little bit sooner with Matt Tifft having to sit out this weekend’s Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway due to a “disc condition” in his back.
Joe Gibbs Racing announced Tuesday that Tifft, who was supposed to drive the No. 18 Toyota in the American Ethanol E15 250, would be replaced by Hornish. Hornish hasn’t raced anything since the 2015 Sprint Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Last week, Richard Childress announced Hornish would drive its No. 2 Xfinity car for the July race at Iowa and at Kentucky Speedway in September.
Of Hornish’s three Xfinity wins, one was at Iowa in 2014.
Tifft also was supposed to drive in the Camping World Truck Series’ Speediatrics 200 at Iowa in Red Horse Racing’s No. 11. The team announced Wednesday that German Quiroga will drive for Tifft.
Tifft, a member of the current NASCAR Next class, has competed in six Xfinity race this season, including three in the No. 18 car. His best result is eighth at Talladega and Dover.
Under recommendation of my doctor, for treatment of a back condition with a disc, I will not be competing this weekend. I will be looking to
— Matt Tifft (@matt_tifft) June 14, 2016
Get back to competing as soon as possible, and thank you for the kind words and wish good luck to my @JoeGibbsRacing team at Iowa! (Cont)
— Matt Tifft (@matt_tifft) June 14, 2016