Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s Son Luke Baldwin Set for NASCAR Debut in O’Reilly Series

NASCAR’s longtime crew chief and team owner, Tommy Baldwin Jr., sees his son, Luke Baldwin, finally make his debut in the O’Reilly Series. Baldwin Jr. is currently working as the Competition Director at Rick Ware Racing. Now, the 19-year-old is all set to race at Martinsville after achieving some notable results in the junior categories leading up to the O’Reilly Series entry.

Notably, Luke Baldwin is a third-generation racer, following the footsteps of his Grandfather, Tom Baldwin Sr. The 19-year-old has already achieved back-to-back championship victories in the SMART Modified Tour in the past two seasons. Apart from this, he is already piloting the No.2 challenger for Team Reaume. Baldwin ran five races in 2025, which was quickly increased to 12 races in 2026.

Now, Luke Baldwin is all set to enter the upcoming NFPA 250 at Martinsville Speedway. Notably, he will be piloting the No.5 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Hettinger Racing. The Martinsville circuit is already a highly successful circuit for the Baldwin family, as his grandfather has already achieved multiple wins there. Moreover, his father, Tommy Baldwin Jr., has overlooked multiple race wins as a Crew Chief.

Until now, Luke Baldwin boasts a best finish of P12 in the Truck Series at the Pocono Raceway. Baldwin’s experience in NASCAR means that he has already made over three separate appearances at the Martinsville circuit and will not face a steep learning curve racing over the oval circuit. The Hettinger Racing owner is overjoyed to have Baldwin choose his team to race for in the O’Reilly Series.

With all that Luke has achieved of late, a lot of people have their eyes on him. We’re proud to be the ones he chose to make his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut.

Chris Hettinger said, as reported by si.com.

Luke Baldwin opens up on the importance of Martinsville circuit for his family

Luke Baldwin’s upcoming O’Reilly Series entry will help him prepare well for the upcoming Truck Series races and potentially pave a pathway for him into Cup Racing. Baldwin is excited to have this opportunity presented to him at the Martinsville circuit. The 19-year-old reflects on the importance of the circuit for the entire Baldwin family as he hopes to achieve great results on his debut outing in the O’Reilly Series.

Luke Baldwin pointed out that it was very special for him to have his own opportunity to race at a circuit that meant a lot to his family. He continued that he had great comfort at the track in terms of racing feel and was aware of how to log a fast lap. Baldwin recalled the good experience he had on the track and aims to leverage that to keep learning and improve results throughout the race.

Martinsville has always meant a lot to my family, so to have my own opportunity at the track is definitely special, It’s a place where I have a decent level of comfort in terms of feel and what I need in the racecar to make a fast lap. It’s tight, it’s physical, and you have to race smart to be there at the end. I’ve been fortunate to have some good experiences there already, so the goal is to lean on that and keep learning throughout the race.

Luke Baldwin told Racing America.

The upcoming Martinsville entry in the O’Reilly Series will help Luke Baldwin prepare well for his subsequent entry at the Rockingham circuit in the Truck Series. Hence, it will be interesting to witness how the youngster manages to make his name on the circuit and continue the family tradition of achieving success on the iconic circuit.

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