Tommy Baldwin returns to NASCAR with Controversial Cup team

Tommy Baldwin is one of the most recognizable names in the NASCAR and American Motorsports scene.

Tommy Baldwin returns to NASCAR with Controversial Cup team

Tommy Baldwin (Credits: nascar.com)

Veteran NASCAR crew chief and former team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. will return to the premier stock car racing series. He has joined the Ford Cup team Rick Ware Racing as Competition Director. He has already joined the team for the Bristol Dirt race, but the team kept the signing and waited till April 13 to announce the signing.

The team has stated that they already see improvements with the team after the appointment. The statement read, “Tommy Baldwin named Competition Director for RWR. His years as a NASCAR Cup Series team owner and winning Crew Chief are already making an impact with the team. Baldwin’s first race in his new role was Bristol,”.

YouTube video

“Tommy and I had discussed him joining us before, but we didn’t have the tools, infrastructure, and support in place like we do currently. Now we have what’s needed to utilize someone with his racing pedigree. This is a healthy move for our team, and he’s already making an impact with all he brings to RWR,” team owner Rick Ware said in the press release about the appointment.

FS Video

RWR is going through tough times right now. Cody Ware, the son of Rick Ware and the full-time driver of the No:15 car, was arrested for assault of a woman. NASCAR indefinitely suspended him, and he is not allowed to race in the series until he is cleared of the felony charges. The incident occurred before Bristol and Matt Crafton replaced him. The No:15 car will be driven by defending Truck Series champion Zane Smith in the next race in Martinsville.

In case you missed it: “Fake noose and has zero talent”- NASCAR Twitter reacts to ‘Race: Bubba Wallace’ Netflix docu-series securing Sports Emmy nomination

What is Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s NASCAR legacy?

Tommy Baldwin 11
Tommy Baldwin

The son of champion-modified driver Tom Baldwin started his career as a crew chief for Anier-Walsh Racing in 1997. In 1998 he joined Bill Davis Racing and had a fruitful stint there after with Ward Burton, in which they won 4 races, which included an impressive 2002 Daytona 500 win. In 2004 Baldwin became part of yet another impressive season after moving around with a bunch of teams till then.

He was the crew chief of the Evernham Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne. The duo produced one of the most impressive rookie seasons ever by a driver, though they couldn’t score a win as they had to wait till the next season for it. Till 2009 he worked within many different teams earning moderate success before finally making the decision to file his own cars.

Though struggled to land sponsors, the first Tommy Baldwin Racing car was fielded in 2009 with No:36 Toyota. The team fielded cars for the likes of Mike Skinner, Scott Riggs, Mitchel McDowell, Geoff Bodine, and Dave Blaney. They shut down their Cup operation in 2016, only to return in 2019. His team has recently won NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Owner’s championship and the SMART Modified Tour Driver and Owner’s championships.

Discover: