Sprint Cup car owner Tommy Baldwin ‘exploring all my opportunities’ for team’s future

Unsure about his organization’s future, team owner Tommy Baldwin met with his employees Monday “so I can give them the options if they needed to go find a job.’’

Baldwin told NBC Sports in an exclusive interview Tuesday that “I’m exploring all my opportunities right now. I’m trying to figure everything out.’’

He hopes to have his plans solidified by some point in December. Among the options, there is one thing Baldwin said he won’t do.

“I would never shut down,’’ said Baldwin, whose team debuted in the Cup series in 2009. “Don’t use that word. The options are keep going or sell. That’s the only two options we have.’’

Baldwin admits he’s given his employees a similar message “in six out of the eight years” of the team and always made it to the next season.

But Baldwin concedes that it is becoming more difficult for a small team like Tommy Baldwin Racing.

Although Tommy Baldwin Racing has competed in NASCAR’s top series since 2009, car owner Tommy Baldwin told NBC Sports that it is become more challenging to be competitive.

“The technology has just increased,’’ Baldwin said. “Everyone has just become smarter. The race teams, with Michael Waltrip Racing shutting down (after the 2015 season) and some other things, it put a lot good people, dispersed a lot of good people to different teams. Everyone had to spend a lot more money to keep up with the Gibbs and Hendrick programs.

“It’s funny to me how everyone thinks our racing is not good. This is the most competitive that NASCAR has ever been.’’

Baldwin admits it has been a struggle at times for the team and driver Regan Smith.

“I think we’ve been competitive at times,’’ Baldwin said. “I think we’ve been really bad at times. It’s been a competitive roller coaster. This year is probably one of the best race teams that we’ve assembled, it’s been a great group of guys that have worked for TBR. There’s a lot of pluses that we have going on, but again, it’s the almighty dollar that is talking.

“If you don’t have the money to keep up with the Joneses, you’re going to be left behind. If you told me eight years ago when I first started this team I would be pretty much in the same spot as when I started, I would have told you that you were crazy. This sport has taken off so much here as far as how smart we’ve all gotten. It’s not that we don’t know how to do it, it’s just that we don’t have the money to apply the proper resources to do it.’’

Baldwin has one of the 36 charters granted to Sprint Cup teams at the beginning of this season. That adds value to his organization, ensuring that his team — or whoever purchases the charter, if that happens — would be in every Cup points race.

Baldwin’s car is 32nd in the car owner point standings, ahead of five other teams that have charters (another team below Baldwin’s leased its charter for this season).

Smith is 33rd in the driver standings. He finished a season-best third at Pocono in August. His only other top-10 finish this year has been an eighth-place result in the Daytona 500.

Tommy Baldwin Racing debuted in 2009, competing in 25 races. The team had five drivers: Michael McDowell (eight races),Scott Riggs (eight), Patrick Carpentier(four), Mike Skinner (four) and Robert Richardson (one).

The organization continued to use a variety of drivers in 2010 before Dave Blaney ran 34 races in 2011. Blaney was with the team through 2013.

Tommy Baldwin Racing expanded to two full-time cars in 2012. Danica Patrick, in partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing, ran 10 races where Baldwin was listed as the car owner. Tommy Baldwin Racing ran two cars through 2014 before selling the assets of the second car (the No. 36 team) to Premium Motorsports.

Before becoming a team owner, Baldwin was a crew chief. He won five Cup races as a crew chief, including the 2001 Southern 500 and 2002 Daytona 500 withWard Burton.

Martin Truex Jr. supports decision to skip Miami test: ‘It gives a false sense of security’

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Absence makes the car go faster?

That’s the approach Martin Truex Jr. and crew chief Cole Pearn are embracing in electing to skip the critical test Oct. 18-19 at Homestead Miami Speedway, site of the Nov. 20 season finale that will determine the Sprint Cup championship.

Truex, who won two of the first three races in the 2016 playoffs and is among the championship favorites, said the team vacillated on the decision for weeks before Pearn decided last week against making the 2,000-mile track to South Florida from Denver, where the Furniture Row Racing  is based.

“Cole feels good about that, so I’m with him,” Truex said Friday before practice at Kansas Speedway. “I think he’s making the right decision. We went to Homestead and tested the last two years and went back for the race and we were awful. It gives you a false sense of security when you go to a test like that a month ahead of the race. You feel like you’re good, you go back to the race track, and (the weather is) completely different and then you don’t know what to do. You don’t know what direction to head.”

Truex finished 12^th at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2015, last among the four championship contenders. He finished 17^th there two years ago – after finishing third, sixth and fourth in the previous three years with Michael Waltrip Racing.

“Homestead is a long way from Denver, so we’re just trying to make sure we’re focused on the right things,” he said. “We feel like testing honestly has not really done anything to help us along. We feel like our time is better spent at the shop getting prepared.”

The No. 78 Toyota also won the Chase for the Sprint Cup opener at Chicagoland Speedway without having tested.

“Some of our worst races this year have been after tests believe it or not, so it’s an interesting thing,” he said. “I think we’re making the right decision, but we won’t know that until Homestead.”

Truex’s team will be able to feed setup data into its simulations to prepare for the season finale, gleaning the information from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Carl Edwardsthrough Toyota Racing Development.

Edwards said he could understand why a team might skip the session.

“There’s an opportunity to test for the ultimate race – the race that finishes the year, but it’s also an interruption in your Chase, and it can take away as well,” he said. “We feel like testing at Homestead is going to benefit us. I love Homestead, I like going down to South Florida, so for me I think it’s good and our team is prepared to deal with it. There are two sides to it.”

Michael McDowell’s Darlington paint scheme honors Richard Childress’ racing career

Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing, which is part of a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing, will honor the owner of its partner team with a paint scheme in the Sept. 4 Southern 500 on NBC.
The No. 95
 
Thrivent Financial Chevrolet of Michael McDowell will bear a paint scheme similar to one used By Richard Childress during his time racing in the Sprint Cup Series. The car borrows from Childress’ No. 3 Captain Jack Chevrolet he drove throughout the 1970s.
“Darlington was one of the races that I attended years ago that spurred my passion for NASCAR,” said Bob Leavine, co-owner of Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing in a press release. “For our team to participate in the Throwback weekend for the first time is going to be really special. We’re proud to pay tribute to Richard Childress, a true NASCAR Hall of Famer, and honor his driving career with this special scheme.”
In his career Childress never recorded a win, but in 17 starts at Darlington Raceway he earned one top five in his 1973 rookie season.
MORE: 2016 Southern 500 throwback paint schemes 
 
“I loved Darlington, it was one of my favorite tracks,” Childress said in a press release. “It was really narrow back then had guard rails around it. I’ll never forget being there as a rookie and taking it all in.”
McDowell will be making his fifth Darlington start. In his first four attempts, McDowell only finished once, in 2008 when he finished 28th for Michael Waltrip Racing.
“The Darlington Throwback weekend is really cool,” said McDowell in a press release. “I love how we can all look back at our sport and remember the great stories and people who made it what it is today.”

Brett Moffitt making first NASCAR start of year subbing for Matt Tifft in Truck race

Brett Moffitt, the 2015 Sprint Cup rookie of the year, will drive Red Horse Racing’s No. 11 truck for Matt Tifft in Thursday night’s Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway.

Tifft is out indefinitely as he recovers from brain surgery July 1 to remove a low-grade tumor. Moffitt, who hasn’t competed in a NASCAR race since the 2015 Sprint Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, will be driving in his third Truck race but his first since 2013.

“Obviously, we’re thinking of Matt and can’t wait for him to return, so we’re sending him our best wishes and we hope to see him back at the track soon,” said Moffitt in a press release. “I hate that it’s under these circumstances, but I’m really grateful for this opportunity with Red Horse Racing and I hope it can lead to more.”

Tifft was replaced by German Quiroga two weeks ago at Iowa Speedway.

Moffitt, 23, earned the Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year honor last season after making 31 starts for Michael Waltrip Racing and Front Row Motorsports as a substitute driver for Brian Vickers and David Ragan.

Moffitt’s best finish in those 31 races was eighth at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The native of Grimes, Iowa, made the first of his two 2013 Truck starts at Kentucky Speedway driving for ThorSport Racing. He started 34th and finished 14th.

Matt Tifft to undergo surgery for tumor in his brain

Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Matt Tifft will undergo surgery for removal of a low-grade glioma in his brain.

The slow-growing tumor was found during treatment and evaluation for a recent disk condition in his back. Tifft, who turned 20 years old two days ago, is expected to undergo surgery and rehabilitation soon afterward and is expected to return to racing once cleared by doctors.

David Ragan will drive for Tifft in Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity race at Daytona International Speedway.

Tifft did not drive in either the recent Xfinity or Camping World Truck Series races at Iowa Speedway. Sam Hornish Jr. won the Xfinity race at Iowa with Joe Gibbs Racing. German Quiroga drove in the Truck series race for Tifft.

Tifft had driven in three Truck series races and six Xfinity races. He won the pole for the Xfinity race at Talladega.

Ragan drove nine races for Joe Gibbs Racing last season in the Sprint Cup Series after Kyle Busch was injured. Ragan had three top-10 finishes, including a fourth-place result at Auto Club Speedway. He finished the season with Michael Waltrip Racing. Ragan is driving in the Cup series this year for BK Racing.

No secrets: From setups to strategy, group chat among some crew chiefs shares all

CONCORD, N.C. — As Martin Truex Jr. led fellow Toyota driver Carl Edwards at Dover earlier this month, crew chief Cole Pearn plotted his strategy, wondering what Edwards’ crew chief, Dave Rogers, planned to do.

So Pearn asked Rogers.

He messaged him, actually.

“Come on man, throw me a bone,’’ Rogers recalled Pearn’s note. “Tell me when you’re going to pit.’’

Pearn, Rogers and his fellow Joe Gibbs Racing crew chiefs are on a group chat with Andy Graves, group vice president, technical director for Toyota Racing Development, USA. They share information throughout the week and an occasional quip — often by Pearn. The chat doesn’t stop when the race starts.

Group chats are not new in NASCAR among crew chiefs on the same team or alliance. Graves recalls a more modest system in place at Hendrick Motorsports when he served as Terry Labonte’s crew chief from 1997-99.

With team computers showing each car’s setup and pertinent information, crew chiefs know what their teammates are doing at all times. Joe Gibbs Racing has incorporated Furniture Row Racing’s Truex so that the information available to each team is if they truly were teammates.

Even with all that information to both Toyota teams, the group chat provides answers to questions about key issues, setup notes and other matters. The more a crew chief knows, the more informed their decisions can be.

Still, what about asking a teammate/competitor on strategy that could hurt them?

It’s all fair.

“What did you tell him?’’ Edwards asked Rogers upon hearing of Pearn’s Dover request. “Get back to you in a minute?’’

They laughed.

No, that’s not what Rogers told Pearn.

Before Rogers revealed how he responded, he recalled that weekend and the struggles Rogers and Edwards had with their car during practice. It was confusing because the setup had worked so well previously. As they tried to figure out how to be faster, Truex posted quick times.

Rogers told his engineers to get Truex’s setup and they would change Edwards’ car to match what Truex had with his.

Edwards went faster.

So when Pearn’s request came during the race asking about what lap Edwards would pit, Rogers responded in the only way he could.

“I told him what I was going to do,’’ Rogers said.

As Graves watched the exchange on the chat, he beamed.

“It’s competitive inside, but not to the point that we’re willing to jeopardize the good of the whole,’’ he said.

That’s the message ingrained in the teams. There’s a closeness between JGR and Furniture Row Racing that is different when Michael Waltrip Racing was with Toyota. The group chat for JGR and MWR crew chiefs was primarily used during restrictor-plate events at Daytona and Talladega.

It’s used constantly among JGR and Furniture Row Racing.

“There’s no question that each one of us wants to be the top team every week,’’ Rogers said. “If you didn’t, you don’t belong in this sport. But we all know that our unity and our sharing of information is going to separate us from the field. It’s a heck of a lot easier to beat four guys than it is to beat 39. So if we work together and we can separate our group and fight amongst ourselves, our odds of winning are better.’’

Pearn said that the openness will keep their working relationship strong.

“Once you go down the path of hiding from each other is when most teammate relationships break down,’’ he said. “You hide one time and it’s easier to do the next time and you just slowly drift apart.’’

Another key to the group chat is that Graves can add his insight on matters, including things during the race the other crew chiefs might be too busy to notice.

Graves noticed during that Dover race that Dale Earnhardt Jr., running outside the top 10 at the time, was saving fuel to make it to the end based on his slower lap times. Graves altered his crew chiefs to the maneuver. In the end, it didn’t matter when Earnhardt was collected in the 18-car crash late in that event, but it could have.

The cooperation was evident Thursday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Truex and Edwards were staged next to each other on pit road during Coca-Cola 600 qualifying. Before the final session, which would determine the pole, Rogers walked over to Pearn and talked briefly. Truex went on to win the pole.

“There’s no information that is not shared,’’ Rogers said.

As a result, Joe Gibbs Racing has won seven of the first 12 points races this season and Truex seems on the cusp of winning.

NASCAR on NBC podcast, Episode XIII: Michael Waltrip

Michael Waltrip, who will interrupt his Fox Sports job to race this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, was the guest of a bonus episode of the NASCAR on NBC podcast.

The two-time Daytona 500 winner will be driving a No. 55 for Premium Motorsports at the 2.66-mile oval, where his last of four Sprint Cup wins (all on restrictor-plate tracks) occurred in September 2003.

Waltrip, who turns 53 Saturday, finished 30th in the season-opening Daytona 500. He believes with the proper car, he still could win.

“Yes, I think I could,” he said. “I also know I don’t have the opportunity to get in a car that’s there.

“The car I raced at Daytona and Talladega was built in the middle of 2015 at (Michael Waltrip Racing). The research and development and engineering and processes that the top teams have gone through since then have made their cars way faster than my car. But I did win, and I had a good run for a while with a car that was capable of it. I relish those memories and am thankful for them.”

As an analyst on Sprint Cup pre- and postrace shows and the Camping World Truck Series for Fox, Waltrip says getting behind the wheel informs his work on TV.

“I know it does week in and week out, despite the fact the racing style is different” at Daytona and Talladega, Waltrip said. “You have to make pit stops, you have to read the digital dash, you have to work with your spotter, you have to hit your pit road speed perfectly. You have to do all the jobs they do every week.

“The product on the track is different, but you’re doing the same things to win Richmond or any event. I know it keeps me current and tuned in to what they’re doing on the track.”

Waltrip already has insight into this year’s dominant team, Joe Gibbs Racing, which seems to have benefited with the addition of Furniture Row Racing in the Toyota Racing Development fold. Michael Waltrip Racing was one of TRD’s original teams and worked with JGR to lesser success from 2008-15.

“Our team could have meshed in as an organization with Gibbs as Furniture Row has, but I think the philosophy of (co-owner) Rob (Kauffman) and our team didn’t quite match up with the way Joe looked at the racing,” Waltrip said. “(Joe Gibbs) and (Furniture Row owner) Barney (Visser), it’s perfect, because Barney is, ‘What do we have to spend to win?’ And that’s the way Joe looks at it. So instead of meshing them together and saving money, they’ve meshed it together, and now we spend more. That’s the way you have to be in NASCAR.”

Waltrip also discusses how much longer he wants to race part time in Sprint Cup, the importance of teammates and the rest of his professional life.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking below or download and subscribe to it on iTunes by clicking here. The free subscription will provide automatic downloads of new episodes to your smartphone. It also is available on Stitcher by clicking here.