Luke Baldwin Fast-Tracking His Way Through NASCAR Ranks

Luke Baldwin Fast-Tracking His Way Through NASCAR Ranks

By LEN SAMMONS
Luke Baldwin is taking the express route to the top of NASCAR racing.
It was just two years ago, at age 16 when Baldwin first drew attention by winning a Crate 602 Modified race during Florida Speedweeks at New Smyrna Speedway. Now, at the ripe old age of 18, he’s already made his mark in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, finishing a career-best 12th in Friday’s race at the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway.
“It’s been a crazy couple of years moving up the ranks as fast as we have. Head spinning would probably be the best way to put it,” said Luke prior to the start of Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway.
“I started racing late, so I’m playing catch-up. I can’t move too fast, but I can’t waste time either. I think I’m f

inally caught up to some of my friends my age that have already been racing at this level.”
In between the two milestone starts, Baldwin has piled up victories in Modified competition and captured a championship on the SMART Tour while making the best of all opportunities.
Luke is the youngest of three sons of noted NASCAR Cup Series car owner and crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr. The grandson of asphalt Modified legend Tom Baldwin Sr. His father, clearly a strong judge of talent, believes Luke has the ability to succeed at the sport’s highest levels  –  and is fully committed to helping him move up the ranks quickly.
To help accelerate his son’s development, Tommy Baldwin Jr. signed a three-race deal with ThorSport Racing  –  one of the premier teams in the Truck Series  –  for Luke to compete in select events this season.
“Dad’s making sure I’m in the right equipment. I’m really happy in the place I’m in right now with ThorSport,” said Luke.“I’ve had good Trucks every time I’ve run with them. I never doubt that I will have a fast Truck right off the trailer. It’s cool to be able to run for a big competitive team as a rookie. Most people don’t get to do that.”
Luke made his NASCAR Truck Series debut at Martinsville Speedway, a track his grandfather raced at often with his father as crew chief. He finished 22nd in that first outing at the 1/2 mile speedway. His next opportunity came at Kansas Speedway  –  his first start on a 1.5-mile intermediate track  –  but his day ended early due to a crash. He rebounded with a solid 13th-place finish at the North Wilkesboro short track.
“My goal today is finish all the laps. I don’t want to make any mistakes that take me out of the race,” said Luke prior to the start of the event.  “I want to be competitive as well, pass Trucks and make good decisions in the pack, learn the aero.”
Wanting to impress, it would have been easy for Luke to drive on the edge  –  if not beyond. Showing his maturity, he never crossed the line.
“I stayed a good bit away from the edge in practice. The last big track I was at (Kansas), I made a big mistake and pushed the edge, and it ended my race. It was only lap 10, and I put myself in a bad aero spot and stuffed it in the fence,” Luke admitted.
“I didn’t want to do that before the race started, and I know this place can be sketchy  –  so I stayed further from the edge like I normally do. But at the same time, you still have to run at a fast pace, but I wanted to avoid what happened at Kansas.”
Baldwin’s stint with ThorSport was extended to include a fourth race  –  Friday’s showdown at Pocono Raceway. The Tricky Triangle is a notoriously difficult superspeedway that has challenged some of NASCAR’s best over the years.
“Going to different tracks, you have to base it off something that might be similar to you, and for me, there was nothing to compare with Pocono,” said Luke after practice.
“What I was looking for was balance in the corners so I could run hard without losing the nose. That was what was important  –  I was looking for a Truck that was driveable so I could be comfortable for laps and laps. It’s really easy to point out what is bad and what is good at a new track.”
Pocono has three turns, and each one is much different than the other. It also has the longest straightaway in all of NASCAR racing  –  which, for a young driver, might seem a bit boring.
“I think I could have eaten a cheeseburger going down the front straight in practice,” said Luke with a laugh.
“It’s long, but it’s cool to get in the draft  –  you can really feel it and how much speed you’re carrying. These Trucks punch a big hole in the air, so aero is so important. You can make some big runs in the draft. But you can also stall in the air and lose a bunch of spots. There is a lot with the air here and things you need to do differently.”
Despite limited practice time, Baldwin posted his best qualifying effort to date. He believes iRacing on a computer and sim time thanks to Ford helped his learning curve.
“Spending time on the big sim really helped with my confidence. You don’t get to run with other cars, you just make laps, but it gets you close and gave me an idea what I was getting into,” said Luke.
“I’m happy with the progress I made as a driver in practice, made up a huge margin. I was definitely struggling at the start and still have some to pick up. Both progress of me and the Truck were pretty solid.”
During the 200-mile event, Luke kept his nose clean, learned a great deal, and crossed the finish line in 12th  –  marking a significant milestone in his young career.
“The Truck got better, the driver got better, can’t complain. Had a good day, stayed out of trouble. The only time I had contact with anybody was with Patrick (Emerling) on the last lap. It was tight racing through turn three, didn’t work out for either of us, though worse for him. I hate that he lost some spots from it,” Baldwin confessed.
Baldwin’s attention now shifts back to Modified and Pro Late Model racing.
“I have Modified races next weekend, then I’ll focus on a couple of Pro Late Model races,” he shared.
Luke’s family roots come from New York’s Long Island and asphalt Modified racing. On Friday, many friends from the area and that division came to Pocono to see Luke race. It’s a place his father knows very well, having spent days in the past racing on Pocono’s former 3/4-mile inner oval with Luke’s grandfather.
“I know my grandfather raced here and almost won the Race of Champions here one time. Blew up on the last lap leading,” said Luke, who was born and raised in North Carolina, where his father moved to work full-time in NASCAR Cup racing. “It’s cool to come here and race. I’ve had people yell to me today  –  ‘Do it for the New Yorkers’  –  so that’s cool. I can feel a lot of support.”
Luke has already enjoyed success in the Modified division his grandfather competed in his entire career. Winning for the first time in a Modified was special. Winning the SMART title in his rookie season was incredible. Backing up last year’s success, Luke is on a path to defend the SMART Series title as the current point leader.
As a rookie on the NASCAR  Modified Tour this season, he’s currently fifth in those standings after posting a 10th-place finish the weekend prior at his grandfather’s former home track, Riverhead Raceway.
“It’s been an up-and-down year with the Modified. Have had speed at some places and struggled at others,” said Luke.
“Been to a lot of new tracks on the NASCAR Tour this year. Not going to run them all, but close, only going to miss three.”
Unfortunately, because of date conflicts between the two series, Luke will be forced to miss several of the NASCAR events.
As for future NASCAR Truck races with ThorSport or another team, Luke acknowledged after Friday’s race that nothing is definite  –  but his Pocono debut was a positive effort, reflecting well on the young driver.
“I’m not sure what my next (race) is  –  we will have to see,” said Luke.