Rick Ware Racing director quits team after – Sports News
Tommy Baldwin parted methods with Rick Ware Racing (Image: Getty)
Tommy Baldwin Jr. has stepped down from his position as competitors director at Rick Ware Racing.
The veteran NASCAR crew chief and motorsports team proprietor revealed Monday on his Door Bumper Clear podcast that he has ended a partnership that started in April 2023.
“I’m no longer with Rick Ware Racing,” Baldwin stated on the prime of the episode. “We decided, Rick and I, that our expectations were not aligned anymore. So, we decided, without ruining our friendship, which we have a really good friendship, it was decided to go different ways.” Meanwhile, Corey Heim’s feud with Carson Hocevar boiled over at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Baldwin emphasised that the break up was mutual and amicable, framing it as a resolution made particularly to protect his relationship with team proprietor Rick Ware reasonably than let differing priorities pressure it additional. He didn’t go into element in regards to the particular expectations that led to the divide.
As for his subsequent steps, Baldwin stated he plans to spend more time working together with his sons, Jack and Luke, each of whom are pursuing their own racing careers. Luke made his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut earlier this yr and has additionally made a number of Craftsman Truck Series begins.
“I’m gonna take a little break and enjoy some stuff,” Baldwin stated, including that he intends to make use of the time to determine his subsequent alternative within the sport.
Baldwin joined Rick Ware Racing in 2023 (Image: Getty)
No alternative has been named for the competitors director position at Rick Ware Racing as of Monday. The single-car Cup Series team, which fields the No. 51 for driver Cody Ware, at the moment sits final amongst full-time organizations within the proprietor standings, with a season-best end of seventeenth.
Baldwin’s exit comes after a tenure that introduced significant enchancment to a team that had struggled with consistency within the years earlier than his arrival. Prior to Baldwin becoming a member of in 2023, Rick Ware Racing had fielded as many as 18 totally different drivers in a single season and posted only one top-five end between 2017 and 2023.
Under Baldwin’s direction, the team noticed its best statistical season in 2024, posting a 25.3 average end throughout 5 drivers whereas fielding two full-time entries.
This yr, nonetheless, has confirmed more troublesome, with Cody Ware posting a 29.0 average end and a season-best outcome of seventeenth.
Baldwin brings a long time of NASCAR expertise to no matter comes subsequent. He has spent components of three a long time within the sport, serving as a crew chief atop the pit box for 630 Cup Series races since 1997 and amassing 5 wins, 4 with Ward Burton between 2000 and 2002 and one with Kasey Kahne in 2005.
He additionally owned his own Cup Series team from 2009 by way of 2020, an group that was half of NASCAR’s unique 2016 Charter Agreement, although it by no means reached Victory Lane regardless of two top-five finishes and 4 top-10s throughout 425 races.
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