The pit lane at Anderson Speedway didn’t make for a pretty sight after an incident involving Landon Huffman and Tyler Reif in the zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour. At the Bennett Equipment & Supply 225 on Saturday, Reif’s No. 4 car made contact with Huffman’s No. 57, taking the latter out of the race, and Huffman reacted rather violently to it.
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FloRacing shared a video on its social media platforms showing an angry Huffman marching toward the No. 4 Chevrolet. Reif’s crew members tried to calm him down, but Huffman was determined. He kicked the door, reached through the window to confront Reif, and kicked it again before a group of people pulled him away. Even then, he wasn’t ready to calm down.
“I wasn’t sure if he was gonna get out of the car, but I don’t know off. They sc** my race car up. So I don’t know. Normally, I’m not one to, like, inflict damage to a race car in the pits like that, but I’m just p***** off. I’m tired of it,” Huffman said in an interview with Short Track Racing.
Huffman was frustrated because he was running comfortably in the top five with 39 laps to go. But Reif, carrying too much speed into turn 3, missed his line and made contact with the left-rear tire of Huffman. A multi-car pileup ensued, ending both Reif’s and Huffman’s races.
Huffman was 9th in the standings of the CARS Tour heading into the race at Anderson Speedway, 88 points behind leader Caden Kvapil. Had he finished in the top five, he could have significantly closed the gap to drivers ahead. But he got classified in 20th, which completely ruined his hard work over the weekend.
Reif reportedly apologized, but Huffman was in no mood to be forgiving. He bluntly stated that a sorry would not fix his race car, which the No. 57 team now has to repair for structural damage.
Reif was competing part-time in the CARS Tour for Matt Piercy Racing. His primary focus remains the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he currently sits 27th in the standings while driving for Niece Motorsports. He is also competing in select races in the ARCA Menards West Series.
Huffman, meanwhile, is a CARS Tour veteran. And he clearly hinted that he didn’t want part-timers like Reif in the short-track scene. “We need more Deac McCaskills and Lee Pulliams, and less Tyler Reifs,” he added in the same interview.
McCaskills and Pulliams belong to the old guard of drivers, someone Huffman believes will respect the etiquette of short-track racing. He clearly doesn’t feel that drivers like 19-year-old Reif belong in the scene.
“Coming into the series, you don’t race with this every week. You pay for the ride, and it’s just part of it,” Huffman also said in the interview.
The next race in the series, which is co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., takes place at Florence Motor Speedway on September 4. Tyler Reif is scheduled to take part in it.