Tommy Baldwin Racing: The Mooresville Team Behind the No. 7 and No. 36 Cars

Tommy Baldwin Racing went back into the Sprint Cup Series in January 2009 after earlier years in the Busch Series. Run from Mooresville, North Carolina, it went through many drivers, car numbers and sponsors before announcing in November 2016 that it would stop full-time Cup racing and sell its charter.

Who owns Tommy Baldwin Racing?

Tommy Baldwin Jr. owns the team. He was a crew chief before he launched the Cup operation, and he had been released from Bill Davis Racing before the 2009 restart. He is the son of Tom Baldwin, a late modified driver, and the team now races in the modified ranks.

Baldwin's experience at Bill Davis Racing shaped the early years. Dave Blaney was one of the drivers he had worked with there, and Blaney later became the most regular driver of the No. 36 car.

A small Mooresville team that ran Cup cars from a 2009 restart until it sold its charter in 2016.

How did the team restart in the Cup Series in 2009?

The team restarted as a Sprint Cup operation on January 5, 2009, despite a slumping economy. Scott Riggs drove the No. 36 with Toyota engines from Arrington Manufacturing, and the car qualified for the Daytona 500 and finished 25th in the opening race of the year.

Money was tight from the start. Red Bank Outfitters sponsored the first four races, and the car ran much of the season unsponsored. Riggs qualified for eight races in twelve attempts, then departed after the Charlotte race because funding ran short and the team had to start and park.

Baldwin then signed veteran Mike Skinner for 17 races. Patrick Carpentier ran the two Pocono events, and Brian Simo the two road course races. Carpentier later left the team because of a business conflict in Canada, and Michael McDowell took over for the rest of the year. Robert Richardson Jr. also finished 18th at the November Talladega race with sponsorship from Mahindra Tractors.

How did Dave Blaney's seasons with the No. 36 go?

Dave Blaney drove the No. 36 for the full 2011 season, the first year in which the team competed in all 36 races. The car finished third at Talladega in October 2011 and reached the Top 35 for the first time after a 13th at Richmond in April, a race driven by Stephen Leicht.

The 2011 Daytona 500 started badly for the team. The No. 36 had made its third consecutive Daytona 500 start and picked up Golden Corral sponsorship for the race, but Blaney led three laps and finished 26th after taking damage in a lap 196 wreck. At April Talladega he nearly spun while at the front, then salvaged a 27th after leading 21 laps.

Golden Corral later became a 19-race primary sponsor, and Big Red joined for five races. In 2012 Blaney was back full time with Ryan Pemberton as crew chief. The team nearly won the Daytona 500 after staying out under caution to take the lead, but the race was red-flagged when Juan Pablo Montoya's car hit a jet-dryer cleanup vehicle. It restarted, and Blaney finished 15th.

Why did the team switch to the No. 7?

In 2013 the team changed its number from No. 10 to No. 7 to honour owner Tommy Baldwin's father, who raced as 7NY in NASCAR's Modified division. The switch followed a 2012 arrangement that let Stewart-Haas Racing field a No. 10 car for Danica Patrick in ten Sprint Cup races.

David Reutimann was the primary driver for the other 26 races that year, with Accell Construction and TMone as main partners. Patrick's GoDaddy.com sponsorship went with her to Stewart-Haas for 2013. The team kept all its rights, including owner's points, and the No. 7 gave it a number with a family history.

Who drove the No. 7 car between 2013 and 2016?

Dave Blaney drove most of 2013 in the No. 7, with SANY America sponsoring the car in 14 races. Michael Annett came up from the Nationwide team in 2014 with Pilot Flying J, and Alex Bowman joined from BK Racing for 2015 before leaving in January 2016. Regan Smith then took over the car full time.

Justin Marks made his Cup debut in the No. 7 at Sonoma in 2013 with GoPro sponsorship. Florida Lottery sponsored both Daytona races and Homestead that year. Annett finished 33rd in the 2014 final points standings, with a best finish of 16th at Talladega Superspeedway in the spring, and the car ran an engine lease from ECR Engines.

In 2015 the team failed to make the Daytona 500 after a wreck in the duel, the first time a Tommy Baldwin Racing entry had missed the Great American Race. A few hours after Bowman left, Regan Smith joined full time. He finished 8th in the 2016 Daytona 500, which allowed a Golden Corral promotion the next day.

Who drove the No. 36 in 2013 and 2014?

J. J. Yeley drove the No. 36 for the full 2013 season with sponsors including Golden Corral and Accell Construction. He finished 10th in the Daytona 500, his first top ten since 2008, and he ended the year 32nd in points. Reed Sorenson replaced him for 2014, with veteran crew chief Todd Parrott brought in to improve performance.

Victor Gonzalez Jr. had driven the No. 36 at Sonoma and Watkins Glen in 2013, and became the first competitor from the Caribbean region to race in NASCAR's top division. Sorenson qualified second for the July Daytona race after a rain-shortened session, but the team's performance fell away from the No. 7 without steady funding outside the restrictor plate races.

The season's most dramatic moment came at spring Richmond. A tyre failure sent rubber into the wheel well, a fire reached the fuel cell, and the car burst into flames as Sorenson eased onto pit road. Crew members from Go Fas Racing and Hendrick Motorsports got him out, and he was uninjured. Sorenson finished 34th in the driver standings with a best of 14th, while the No. 36 team finished 35th in owner standings.

What was the No. 37 team and how did it end?

The No. 37 was a third car that Tommy Baldwin Racing supported from 2012 through a partnership with Max Q Motorsports, then fully owned in 2014. It made ten starts that year, finished 46th in owner points and shut down after the season. Its best finish was 26th at Pocono with Dave Blaney.

Max Q was led by former driver Larry Gunselman. It had started 2012 with Mike Wallace and Timmy Hill in a partnership with Rick Ware Racing, but Hill struggled to qualify and the partnership was broken off in April. J. J. Yeley drove for Max Q, and Blaney ran one race for them as well. At the 2013 Sonoma race the No. 37 was fielded for Yeley while Victor Gonzalez Jr. drove the No. 36. It started last and finished 42nd, and neither entry received points.

In 2014 the team took full ownership and started the car at Indianapolis. Bobby Labonte, the 2000 champion, failed to qualify on speed and used a champion's provisional to make the race. Blaney came back at Pocono after entering semi-retirement, then drove at Michigan and Bristol, while Mike Bliss ran Atlanta and Richmond. The team ran ten races that year before it shut down.

How did the Cup operation end in 2016?

In November 2016 the team said it would end full-time NASCAR racing and sell its charter. Leavine Family Racing took the charter, and the last race was a 38th-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Owner points had been sold to Leavine before that race.

Rumours in October 2016 had suggested the charter would go to Circle Sport - Leavine Family Racing. Before the Homestead race, Baldwin announced the closure on Facebook. Earlier in the season Regan Smith had finished third at the second Pocono race after not pitting during the final 28 laps. The result was a season best for both him and the team.

Even with the announcement, the team partnered with Elliott Sadler for the 2017 Daytona 500 and the other superspeedways. J. J. Yeley drove at the spring Texas race and returned for the Brickyard 400, and Hermie Sadler took over at Martinsville. Premium Motorsports acquired the team on September 4, 2017, and ran the other races near the end of that season under its banner.

Did the team return to Cup after 2016?

The team announced a rebirth for 2019 in November 2018, with plans to run part time under the No. 71. Ryan Truex failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, and the No. 71 has not attempted a race since. The rebirth was a plan rather than a sustained return.

The 2020 entries were Josh Bilicki at the Real Heroes 400, plus J. J. Yeley, Bilicki and Reed Sorenson, who each ran two races. Yeley had the team's best finish of that year, 25th at Bristol Motor Speedway. The team did not return to the No. 7 after the arrangement with Spire, and the team has not attempted a race under that number since.

How did the team start in the Nationwide Series?

The team made its official Nationwide Series debut in 2001 at Charlotte, when Ward Burton started fourth and finished eighth in the No. 5 Pillsbury Chevrolet. The following year the team switched number and manufacturer, and the No. 6 Pepsi Dodge with Wally Dallenbach Jr. made its first start, finishing 14th after starting 26th.

Burton ran the same car at Homestead-Miami Speedway, qualifying sixth and finishing seventh. Dallenbach scored two top-ten finishes at Charlotte and Phoenix. Damon Lusk took over the No. 6 at Richmond but crashed out on lap 14, then had a steadier season with only two retirements. Lusk and the team chased Rookie of the Year in 2003 with sponsorship from Sta-Rite Pumps, but the title went to David Stremme and Coy Gibbs.

In 2004 Unilever backed the team through its Hungry Drivers programme. Four drivers ran three Busch Series races each: Mark McFarland, Tracy Hines, Scott Lynch and Paul Wolfe. Wolfe was chosen after two top-20 finishes. In 2005 Evernham Motorsports, now Richard Petty Motorsports, bought the Busch Series team and Tommy Baldwin Racing closed its operation.

Team SLR and the No. 8 Chevrolet

In 2012 Tommy Baldwin Racing set up a partnership with Team SLR and driver-owner Scott Lagasse Jr. Team SLR fielded the No. 8 Chevrolet Impala in select races, with sponsorship from the Boy Scouts of America and Hybrid Light. The team's chassis came from Tommy Baldwin Racing and its engines from ECR Engines.

Lagasse drove at Kentucky, Kansas and Homestead, three races in total that season. In 2013 the operation was folded into Tommy Baldwin Racing. The No. 8 number then carried the team's Nationwide entry, absorbing the points from Team SLR, and Lagasse drove at Daytona, Las Vegas and Richmond for it.

Which Cup entries stand out season by season?

What is the legacy of Tommy Baldwin Racing?

Tommy Baldwin Racing spent most of its Cup years as a small team that relied on short-term sponsors and drivers who came and went. Its drivers included Dave Blaney, Alex Bowman and Regan Smith. The team closed its full-time Cup operation in 2016 and now races in the modified ranks, where its owner's father once competed.

The record shows a team that kept going through constant changes of driver, number and sponsor. Owner points and equipment passed to other operations, and the No. 7 number went to Spire Motorsports for 2021. The Nationwide years, from 2001 to 2005 and again from 2012 to 2014, form a second chapter that runs alongside the Cup story.