Tiffany Matthews

""I can't even begin to express the sorrow we're all feeling at this very difficult moment. The Matthews Motorsports family has lost someone near and dear to us all. Tiffany was a phenomenal teammate, spouse, and sister, and she will be greatly missed. Both Kellan and I ask for your support and prayers in the difficult days and months ahead.""

- Ryan Matthews, in a statement following Tiffany's death at the 2012 Hanmore World Championships

Tiffany Kirsten Matthews (n&eacute;e Rogers) (born April 26, 1986 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, died November 18, 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas) was a Canadian female race car driver competing in the ARLA Elite Series. She drove the No. 116 Red-Hot Race Wear Lenard for Matthews Motorsports. She was also a rookie in the TM Lights, driving the No. 16 A&W Bolden before being replaced by Brooke Ingwersen following the Round of Quincy (see below).

Matthews made her stock car debut in 2011 alongside husband Ryan Matthews, driving the No. 85 Stop & Shop Juneau S1 for the same team.

Her younger sister, Kellan Rogers, made her stock car debut in 2012, driving the No. 46 Canadian Tire STS in the Dash Cup series.

Matthews succumbed to injuries sustained during the disastrous 2012 Hanmore World Championships, the Formula Overdrive season finale.

Early career
Tiffany Rogers began racing go-karts locally at the age of nine. She had graduated to midget cars by the age of 14, even winning the Canadian national championship that season. She aspired to run the Can-Am Late Model Touring Series, but was forced to remain in midgets due to the series having a minimum age requirement of 16. Her parents, who supported her racing career every step of the way, purchased a late model for her for her 16th birthday. In a note of appreciation for the gesture, Rogers put the number 16 on her car. Three days later, on April 29, 2001, Rogers made her series debut in the race held at the Delaware Speedway. She made the race but finished 19th out of a field of 21 cars.

By 2005, Rogers had established herself on tour as a force to be reckoned with. While she hadn't won many races (in fact, she had yet to do so), she earned the respect of the other drivers as a clean, yet confident, racer. Many drivers and pundits alike believed she would break through and win in the 2005 season, and she did just that in the season opener at the Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine. The win got the attention of the other drivers in the garage, including one in particular, though she wouldn't know it until later that season.

Rogers came into the round at Barrie Speedway mid-pack in the points and in desperate need of a solid finish. In addition, her family's finances had taken a turn for the worse and it was uncertain if they could continue to finance her career. It was widely speculated that unless Rogers turned her season around and soon, she would be out of the series by season's end. Rogers placed third in the event, despite having been spun twice and fighting an ill-handling car throughout the race. The performance impressed fellow driver Ryan Matthews (who she beat by two places, he had finished fifth), who asked to meet with her after the race. In that meeting, Matthews offered the 19-year-old Rogers a ride with his team, even going to far as to offer to purchase her team and carry everyone over to his payroll. Rogers was reluctant to accept the offer, as she knew Matthews' team was based in the United States, which meant that she would have to relocate. As a result, she rejected the offer. Matthews was persistent, however, and only after taking her to dinner was he able to convince her to do so. Matthews would say in a 2008 interview, "That was the first and last time I invited a fellow driver to dinner."

The affiliation with Matthews immediately paid dividends for Rogers, as she and her new teammate each racked up four straight top-five finishes to start the 2006 season. One of those finishes was a victory at Cayuga 2000, a track in which she had difficulties in the past.

The 2006 off-season saw a major change in Rogers' life, as she and Matthews married in the early part of 2007. The newly-minted Tiffany Matthews had a decent season, finishing in the top ten in the points in spite of not winning a single race.

Success continued for the distaff Matthews in 2008 and 2009, as she placed in the top five in points both seasons – including a second-place finish in 2009 behind teammate and husband Ryan, marking the first time in series history teammates finished one-two in the final points standings.

The 2010 season saw Tiffany out-point her husband for the first time, as she finished third in the standings. It would end up being her last season in the late-model ranks, as Matthews Motorsports announced it would move to stock car racing for the 2011 season.

VSCC
Tiffany attempted to make her stock car debut at the 2011 VSCC Daytona 250, drawing a starting position directly in front of teammate Ryan Matthews in the second of the two Daytona qualifying races.

In her pre-race interview, she said, "I'm excited. I've been looking forward to this all winter long, and now that it's here, I want to get out there and show that I belong here."

"It'll be fun racing with Ryan," she added. "I've gotten a good idea of what he can do out there. It's the other guys that worry me."

Those words would prove to be prophetic, as the major incident of the second qualifying race happened in front of her. She made it through the Lap 3 incident unscathed, but was hooked by Kenny Morales in the aftermath and ended up smacking the wall with the right front of her car. She would continue on, but finished two laps down in 21st place and failed to qualify for the main race – a race in which Ryan Matthews would finish second.

Her second attempt to make her VSCC debut went at Karjala went as well as the first: again, she was caught in someone else's incident and ended up finishing 15th. Once again she was on the outside looking in.

Her time never came, as the VSCC folded prior to Clairmont.

ARLA Elite Series
Matthews Motorsports entered a car to attempt to make the 150 Laps of Dwyer endurance event, with Tiffany listed as the primary driver. Her pole qualifying effort left a lot to be desired, which meant she would have to race her way into the main event. She placed 17th in the third pre-qualifying race, which was good enough for her to advance to the first main qualifying race.

In that qualifying race, Tiffany placed 10th (9th officially after Lenore Scurry was disqualified), which earned her a spot on the grid for the main race.

Matthews ran surprisingly well in the early going, even running inside the top 10. An incident with Anthony Griffith in Turn 8 almost derailed her effort, but her car received minimal damage in the crash and she was able to continue on the pace. She, along with her husband, worked her No. 85 Cromwell back to 12th place by the half-way point and eventually came home in 8th place. It was the third-best finish for a debutante driver in the Dwyer race.

She also attempted to make the 2011 Rockford 200, but finished 12th in her first qualifying heat race and failed to advance.

ARLA Elite Series
Matthews made her ARLA Elite Series debut as a regular at the 2012 Rookie Shootout, running the full season for Matthews Motorsports.

Matthews drew the 23rd starting position for the Shootout (making her third-to-last on the grid), leading her to lament her fate in pre-race interviews. "I'm not happy," she said. "Obviously I'd have preferred to start up front, but hey, what can you do. It's the luck of the draw."

"These races tend to have a decent amount of attrition, so I'm hoping I can stay out of trouble and move toward the front at the same time," she added. "Our Red-Hot Race Wear Lenard has been decent in testing, but now it's time to see what it's really got."

It didn't take long for her to find out. Her car quickly moved up through the field, as the attrition she predicted came to pass. Matthews stayed in the top 10 all race long, eventually coming home in fifth place. "That was fun," she said in post-race comments. "The car felt really good out there. I have to give a shout out to the guys at the shop for giving me such a good car."

Matthews would make her first career superspeedway start at Daytona – the same track she attempted to make her VSCC debut at the previous season. She qualified 14th, but thanks to the nature of superspeedway racing she didn't stay there long. By the time the first caution of the race flew 23 laps in, she had made her way into the top 10.

Rookies tend to make rookie mistakes, which Matthews did on the subsequent cycle of pit stops. She and Leslie Riggs made contact with each other exiting the pits, damaging both cars as a result. The damage didn't seem to affect the performance of Matthews' Lenard, as she restarted in fourth place. She ran as high as third at one point, but she got shuffled back on the final restart and ended up with a ninth-place finish.

"I (messed) up," she said after the race, referring to the get-together with Riggs. "Ryan was spotting for me, and he was telling me over the radio that Leslie was on her way out of her pit. I just didn't give her enough room, I guess. Fortunately, it didn't ruin either of our races, but I want to let her know that I was sorry and I'll make sure to listen to my spotter next time." She also said her miscue probably cost her several spots on the track. "We had a great car all day," she said. "This was easily a top-five car, and we might have even been there for the win. But thanks to me, we had to settle for ninth." She had an opportunity to redeem herself at the ill-fated Radii Radiators 300, and was running in the lead pack most of the first round. However, with seven laps to go, she got caught in the fallout from the terrible accident involving Mike Andrews and Mark Freestone as she was left with nowhere to go when Andrews' crippled car slid down the Turn 3 banking. Matthews walked away from the wreck, but avoided collecting a DNF when the race was ultimately abandoned.

She would not be as lucky at Carbondale, as the engine on her Lenard expired shortly after the race began. "I don't believe it," she said back in the garage area, kicking her car in frustration. "We were hoping for a good points day today, on a track type I'm usually really good at, and we never even had a chance. It's just frustrating."

Road America would not be any better for Matthews, as she was the innocent victim – again – of an incident not of her doing. This time, it would be an incident involving, among others, Jacob Eichholtz and Jarkko Forsstrom. Matthews made contact with the wrecked Saar of Eichholtz and was sent rolling by A.J. Young. Her Lenard would go for several rolls, but Matthews would walk away from the wreck pretty much unscathed. She did have harsh words for her fellow drivers after the race, saying, "What the hell was that? You've just started the race and you're going three-wide on a track designed for only two cars? It's insanity. It's called patience, people – maybe we should try using some."

Matthews hoped to get back on track at the Piqua Fairgrounds, and was again placed in the second round thanks to her incident at Road America. The race was its usual crashfest, but this time, Matthews avoided all the carnage and came home with her second top-10 finish of the season, a solid seventh. "Finally," she said with a huge grin on her face after the race. "With all the carnage in that race, I really thought I'd get caught up in it. Considering my recent history, it would've been a good bet. But I'm really happy to get another good run in. It's something we can build on heading toward Quincy."

At Quincy, Matthews again found herself in a wreckfest – and again, like at Piqua, managed to stay clear of the major incidents. Unlike at Piqua, however, she would come home in 17th place. "I survived," she said. "There were a few points there where I thought I was gonna get it. With my recent luck, I almost expected it. "I'll say this: I've gotten a lot better at accident avoidance recently. I guess this race really showed that. Though I'd really have liked to have a better finish, I'll take whatever points I can get."

Homecoming: The Canadian tour
Matthews made her homecoming at the Four Corners Raceway in Toronto; a track she had raced on in her quarter-midget days. She qualified ninth, and stayed in the top 10 most of the race. However, she became the center of controversy with 10 laps to go as she apparently lined up for the restart in the incorrect lane, earning her a (rare) trip to Race Control for what was deemed "an improper restart".

Matthews was puzzled by the call, saying after the race, "I was told to restart where I was. I didn't even know I was a lap down. Of course, if I knew that I'd have restarted on the inside line. I guess the communications got garbled or something.

"I do apologize to everybody I held up," she added. "I'm a better driver than that."

Fortunately for Matthews, the ARLA officials let her off with just a warning.

She finished the race as the first car one lap down in 11th place, and was the highest-finishing Canadian driver in her round – a fact she was tickled to hear about. "That's really cool, eh?" she said jokingly. "No, it's really awesome to perform as well as I did in front of the home crowd. I grew up about an hour from here, and raced here quite a bit when I was younger. I just wish I could've gotten a better result."

At Mosport, Matthews again qualified inside the top 10 and hopes were high that she would duplicate her result from Four Corners. Mother Nature, however, had other plans, as a steady rain made the road course extremely slick. "No way was I ready for that," she said. "I heard the forecast called for rain, but I didn't think it would be as bad as it was."

Despite having a run-in with Phil Summers early on in the going (Summers had gone off-course and bumped into her car as he came back on-track), Matthews managed to salvage a 14th-place finish. "That incident with Summers hurt us a lot," she said. "It didn't hurt the car much, but it hurt it enough. Considering all the carnage in my race, I'm lucky to have brought the Tiffany Blues Lenard home in pretty much one piece."

She mentioned after the race on her Twitter account that she "was still wringing out my suit from all that rain."

Back to the States
With the Canadian tour behind her, Matthews set her sights on ARLA's annual endurance race, the Mini Indy 500. Things didn't go well for her initially, as she drew the final starting spot for the third qualifying race. However, she was able to make her way through the field and land in the final transfer spot.

"Whew," she said after her race. "When I pulled pill 36 I thought I was doomed. Granted, I lucked out having the likes of Dudding and Doom-O in my race, but there were still plenty of good cars out there. But hey, I'm in the race, so I can't complain."

The race itself was going according to plan: she had started tenth and though she finished mid-pack in segment one, she zipped up through the field and by the end of the second 200-lap segment, she was sitting pretty in third place.

And then the field got inverted for the final segment, which brought the chaos absent from the other two. With 80 laps to go, Matthews was caught in an incident not of her doing which ended what had been an encouraging day.

"It's horrible," she said. "I really thought we were in really good shape after Segment 2. And then those Azure cars went and did us in along with half the field. It stinks, to be honest. We had such a good car..."

As a result of her DNF, Matthews missed an opportunity to crack the top 20 in points, and remained in 24th place in the points standings.

"That hurts worse than not finishing the race," she said. "The fact that we did all that work and end up leaving with nothing is just maddening. Hopefully ARLA changes that rule next year."

The Smash Beer 400 was kinder to Matthews, as she managed to stay out of trouble (and there was a good amount of it in her race). Though she missed finishing in the top 10 – she finished 14th – she did manage to score enough points to crack the top 20 for the first time since Daytona.

"I'm happy to get the car home in one piece," she said. "I'm sure a lot of other people aren't feeling that way, though. And it's because certain people are out there that shouldn't be. I won't name names, but we all know who they are."

She was also asked about heading to the treacherous Buffalo Downs, which will mark her first visit to a dirt track.

"I'm looking forward to it," she said. "Hopefully I don't make a fool of myself out there. But I think the team will set me up so that I don't."

Her concerns about the Yellowstone 150 turned out to be unfounded, as she brought her car home in 13th place after starting 19th, good for yet another points-paying finish.

"I'd never raced on dirt before," she said, "so I had no idea how I'd fare. I'd have to say I think I did pretty well. I'd have liked to finish higher, but sometimes you have to take what you can."

Albuquerque proved to be a battle for Matthews, as she got caught in the pits as the first caution of the race flew, trapping her a lap down. In her effort to get back on the lead lap, she was turned by Jim Hayes coming out of Turn 4 onto the front stretch. Though she would rally from the spin to finish 17th, she was clearly displeased with Hayes' impatience.

"It's bad enough we were in that position to start with," she said. "And then that (expletive) Hayes goes and does what he did. I'm really surprised at him...he should know better than that. I guess Hayes wouldn't know patience if it bit him in the (expletive)."

With Matthews inching up the points table (in large parts thanks to those ahead of her not being able to finish), she decided entering the Karl's 250 that it was, in her words, time to "go for it". Go for it she did, as her daring move to the outside as the green flag dropped would indicate. Matthews finished sixth in her round – including leading the first four laps of her ARLA career – and by virtue of that finish finds herself eleventh in points heading to the Japanese leg of the schedule.

"I needed that after last week," she said. "I just wish we could've gotten a little more out of the car so we could've challenged for the win, but hey, like I said after Buffalo, you gotta take what you can get. I'm happy with sixth."

Kon'nichiwa: The Japanese tour
Matthews looked to continue her string of good finishes at the first leg of ARLA's three-race Japanese tour, the Sarabai 300 at Twin Ring Motegi. Due to qualifying being rained out, she started fifth in the first round. She hung around near the front of the field most of the race, but she eventually faded to finish 15th, two laps down to race winner David Krikorian. Normally drivers wouldn't be happy with finishing two laps down to the leaders, but she was unexpectedly cool with it.

"I don't recall signing up for a demolition derby," she said of her round, which, due to the presence of most of the Elite Series' backmarkers, was a crashfest, "because that's what it was out there. Holy crap. I can't ever get my fingernails done because I'd probably chew them off during these races. But I'm happy to have survived and gotten some points, because that's the most important thing right now."

After the race, Matthews lamented over her Twitter feed that she wished she'd done as well as sister Kellan Rogers did in her Dash Cup race, leading Rogers to respond, "Did you use my race notes? No. See what happened?" Matthews playfully responded, "Shut up, sis."

At the Saitama 200, Matthews had a very anonymous run, finishing 20th in her round. "I'm happy to have been off everyone's radar," she said. "Given the events of the last few weeks, I think it's for the best. I'm just glad to be out here racing."

She also had praise for the Saitama Ken Race Track.

"This is a great facility," she said. "I love racing here. I only hope we come back here next year. I want to improve on my finishing 20th!"

Matthews wrapped up her Japanese tour with another points-paying finish at the Nemoto Tokyo 120k's, bringing home an 11th-place run in spite of picking up some damage during the race that required removal of most of her car's front end.

She also commented for the first time on being removed from her TM Lights ride (see below) in order to concentrate on her ARLA schedule.

"Doing double-duty like I was was starting to wear on me, to be honest," she said. "In a way, as much as I'd have liked to have kept doing it I really needed to concentrate on one series. Especially since I'm where I am in the points standings. Hopefully this is a good sign for when we get back home. I'm looking forward to it."

The stretch drive
Matthews began the stretch run of her rookie season at Iowa Speedway, where her effort was, to say the least, anonymous. While a dull day at the office wasn't what Matthews had hoped for, she was nonetheless thankful for the tedium.

"I've gotten used to the anonymity lately," she said after finishing 23rd in her round - exactly where she qualified. "I've been really trying to fly under the radar a little bit, especially after all the things that happened earlier in the year. I think getting canned from my TM Lights car humbled me a bit, and to be honest, I don't mind getting less attention lately. I'm letting my driving do the talking."

As the calendar turned to fall, Matthews knew this wasn't the time to turn in a flat performance. She didn't at Memphis, where she finished eighth in Round Two.

"I had fun out there," she said. "I'm happy we got another top-10 run tonight. We needed it."

She also commented on the impending close of her rookie season.

"We're at the nitty-gritty," she said. "I've got to keep doing what I'm doing, and the team has to keep doing what it's doing. We keep this up, we should be able to lock us into the Rockford 200. That's the ultimate goal."

It would be a goal she find it impossible to be able to make, as she was turned into the pit wall by Michael Madrigal during the first caution of the Orange County 200. The incident with Madrigal would be overshadowed, however, by the announcement of the death of Scott Morales, who was fatally injured later on in Round 1. Matthews declined to speak to reporters after the event, feeling it would "be inappropriate to discuss the situation with Michael Madrigal at this time." She added, "My thoughts are with the family of Scott Morales, and especially with Andrea Kinasa. I got to know her during my TM Lights tenure and I can't even begin to imagine what she is going through."

The DNF dropped her to 10th in the points standings, but still mathematically eligible for the title. At the Zing Energy 300 held at the New York Autoring, Matthews' car was stellar, running well inside the top 10 for the majority of the event. Though she did come home seventh, the result was not good enough to keep her title hopes alive.

"Wow, my car was on rails out there," she said after the race. "It felt fantastic. I think we even may have been up front for a little bit. Would've liked to have finished a little better, but the car faded down the stretch and I couldn't get anymore out of it."

But her thoughts were more on having to race her way into Rockford.

"It sucks, clearly," she said. That incident at Orange County last week was a killer. I really hoped we'd have been able to overcome it, but it wasn't meant to be, I guess. It's also unfortunate because I'd really have been able to go into Rockford and not worry about racing in. Now I have to."

Her last tune-up before Rockford was the rescheduled Radii Radiators 300. Matthews ended up wrecked in that race, but avoided a DNF when the race results were wiped. Her second chance was much better than the first, coming home 13th.

"I don't want to say I was points racing out there, but in a way I was," she said. "I don't have a shot at the championship - thanks, Michael, by the way - but I still want to make a good impression as the season ends."

"After all, I've got potential sponsors to impress," she added, referring to the rumors that the Lynxe Women's Team was interested in her for a return to TM Lights.

TM Lights
Matthews was tapped to run the No. 16 A&W Bolden for Matthews Motorsports in the 2012 TM Lights season. In her debut at Las Vegas, Matthews qualified 11th and even led a few laps before a flat tire forced her to the pit lane on a restart. She lost two laps as a result of this and finished 36th.

The Round of Georgia did little to change Matthews' mind about her luck, as she was involved in several incidents – some of her own doing, some not. One of the more infamous incidents of that race involved Matthews and Ike Durbin. Durbin, a lap down at the time, ran Matthews, who was running in eighth, off the track. She collected the car, but instead of doing the sensible thing and slowing down, Matthews cut the corner and took out Justin Robinson. The maneuver left Dan Mullen speechless, while Lance Andrews remarked that Matthews should "hang her head in shame".

Hopes were high for Matthews at Carbondale, and after qualifying seventh, she had good reason to be upbeat. But, like at Road Atlanta before, she was involved in an accident not of her own doing and dropped out less than halfway into the race, finishing dead last. The weekend was the culmination of a disastrous weekend for her, as her ARLA run ended before it got started (she suffered an engine failure on the first lap). The usually chatty Matthews declined to speak to reporters after the race, but did ask on her Twitter feed if anyone had "a lucky charm (they) could sell me. I desperately need one."

Unfortunately for Matthews, no lucky charm was available. Just six laps into her run at the Round of Piqua, Matthews again was the unlucky innocent in a wreck as the cars of Alli Culotta and Eric Molina got together, sending Molina's car directly into hers, causing terminal damage.

Her luck finally changed for the better at Peoria, where she snared the first pole of her career (by an impressive quarter-second over Afzal Tahmid, and was the only driver to break 155 mph average speed) en route to a seventh-place finish. She also led her first laps since Las Vegas. If Matthews had any thoughts of building on her Peoria effort at Mosport, she was in for a mild shock as her bad luck returned with a vengeance. Contact between her and Martin Boltano, Jr. on Lap 1 sent both cars out of the race – and with it, more frustration from Matthews.

At the Round of Portland, Matthews managed to work her way as high as second place before contact with a few backmarkers late in the event, which forced the team to repair the damage and cost her precious track position, eventually forced her to retire from the race.

Matthews' luck seemed to turn after that, as she just missed finishing in the top 10 at both Darlington and Michigan. But at Ohio, her luck reverted to its usual dismal, as her race lasted just 25 laps as she was spun into the frontstretch wall by Buffy Boreanaz. The damage proved to be terminal, and for the fifth time this season, she would leave a race with a DNF.

The Round of Quincy did little for Matthews' confidence, as she was involved in an incident on Lap 8 involving Alli Culotta and Roger Kendall. Replays clearly showed she failed to slow down or even avoid the No. 2 car of Kendall, a fact she did not dispute in her comments upon returning to the garage area.

"I'm so embarrassed I can't talk," she said, clearly upset at herself for her failure to avoid the accident. "I can't believe I did that."

It was the last straw for husband and team owner Ryan Matthews, who announced after the race that Tiffany's TM Lights career was over.

"I've had it, to be honest," he said. "She knows I've been unhappy with her efforts here recently. And I'm tired of fixing wrecked race cars, whether it's her fault or not. So we – well, I, actually – decided it would be in her best interests to concentrate solely on her ARLA career for now."

Former Lenard Development Team driver Brooke Ingwersen took over the No. 16 car for the balance of the season.

Dabbling in other disciplines
Matthews has approved entries in the upcoming Dash Cup Spa GP, the series in which sister Kellan Rogers runs part-time, and also is entered in the Hanmore World Championships in Formula Overdrive.

Spa GP
Matthews qualified easily for the Spa GP, finishing eighth in her qualifying race. "Wow, what a race," Matthews said. "I was getting updates over the radio on how Kellan was running, and I'm so glad I got to race with her. This is awesome!"

Her race, however, wasn't up to her standards, as she started 32nd. Though she rallied to finish 18th, listening to her, it might as well have been 38th.

"I didn't deserve to finish where I did," she said. "The car was decent enough, but I just messed up that chicane there and dumped it. That's on me. It's a testament to the team that they were able to fix things enough where I could rally to finish somewhat decently. I'm disappointed I didn't have a better run, but I'm really happy for Kellan to get another good run. She's going to be a star in this series."

Death
Matthews had high hopes for the 2012 Hanmore World Championships, her first foray into open-wheel racing. Though she didn't qualify well, her car had speed and she was running up front for a good portion of the early going.

However, she was involved in a mid-race incident with Garry Carter and Alessandro Rossini. Though she had gotten the best of the initial accident – only going for a spin – replays showed she appeared to be driving away from it when her car was T-boned by Cody Keaton.

Though she was awake and alert upon arrival at the infield care center, her condition worsened dramatically and was promptly airlifted to Methodist Hospital. Four hours later, Matthews had passed away from her injuries.

Team owner Ryan Matthews, who was at his wife's side up until the end, issued a statement a short time after her passing.

"I can't even begin to express the sorrow we're all feeling at this very difficult moment," it read. "The Matthews Motorsports family has lost someone near and dear to us all. Tiffany was a phenomenal teammate, spouse, and sister, and she will be greatly missed. Both Kellan and I ask for your support and prayers in the difficult days and months ahead."

"The next Alexis Rainsford"?
During the broadcast of the TM Lights Round of Portland, Channel 44 broadcaster Dan Mullen speculated that Matthews was styling herself as "the next Alexis Rainsford." Matthews was asked about that in her post-race interview, which brought a bit of a chuckle.

"He did that?" she asked. "I think it's funny he'd even bring that up with her, to be honest. Look, I was compared to her my whole career in late models, and as much as I try to distance myself from it, it keeps coming back. That's why I bleached my hair a couple years ago, in the hopes the comparisons would die down. I guess I should try embracing it, instead, huh?"

Embrace it she did, if her post-race comments after the Smash Beer 400 were any indication. When asked about Frank Azure's post-Indy Twitter comments in which he said she "couldn't finish five laps at the start of the season", she said, "Who? Oh, him. Whatever. I don't care about nobodies. He's in the ASCC for a reason."

War of words with Jim Hayes
After the Albuquerque race in which Hayes attempted, in his own words, "put (Tiffany) out of her misery", Matthews took to her Twitter and responded, "A lot of good you trying to 'put me out of my misery' did you. I left with points, did you? No. All you left with was a wrecked race car and a ticked-off car owner. Nice work."

Hayes responded in kind, claiming he was "battling for the lead" and that Matthews was "peddling around in the back". Matthews reiterated her earlier point, adding, "I finished the race. You didn't. I left with points. You left with a wrecked car. Advantage, me."

Hayes wasn't done, as he made the mistake of calling Tiffany "toots" in his subsequent Tweet. She responded succinctly: "If you call me "toots" one more time, I guarantee you it'll be the last."

As the two were in separate rounds in the following race at Auto Club Speedway, the war of words has, for now, seemingly come to an end.

Another round with Dan Mullen
During the TM Lights Round of Ohio broadcast, Mullen speculated, upon bringing out the first caution of the race, that Matthews might not even have a drive at all in the series if "the team wasn't owned by her husband Ryan Matthews."

"That's absurd," she said the following day. "So my husband owns my car. Big whoop. Go look at where Chris Davenport was before he hooked up with Alexis Rainsford. Gimme a break. My talent got me where I am, not who I sleep with."

Mullen had, incidentally enough, made similar observations about Davenport until he won his first TM Lights race.

Trivia

 * Tiffany held dual United States/Canadian citizenship, but preferred to race under the flag of her home country.
 * At 5'11" (180 cm), was one of the taller female ARLA drivers.
 * Despite changing her hair color back to its original red, the OEN driver graphics showed her as a blonde. (This is because she changed it back before the ARLA season started, but after the deadline to submit the headshots.)
 * Matthews was based on an identically-named character from a 2007 novella RyanB06 wrote. A lot of her characteristics are shared between the two characters (Canadian nationality, hair color, general attitude), though this Matthews is three inches shorter. In an another eerie parallel, both characters are deceased (though novella Matthews was "reborn" through cloning).