Long-time Rick Ware Racing Competition Director Tommy Baldwin Jr says he has left the team, noting that he does not want to ruin his friendship with team owner Rick Ware.
Baldwin, a co-host of Dirty Mo Media’s Door Bumper Clear podcast, announced the change on the show’s latest episode.
During this episode, the former Daytona 500 Champion Crew Chief and Cup Series Team owner said that the end of this time was due to a change in philosophy between him and team owner Rick Ware.
“We decided, Rick and I, that our expectations were not aligned anymore.” — Tommy Baldwin
Of course, while tensions could be high between both parties, this does not mean there is bad blood, as Baldwin made it a point to note that he and Ware did this in order to maintain their friendship.
“We decided, without ruining our friendship, which we have a really good friendship, it was decided to go different ways,” Baldwin said.
Even though Baldwin may not be in the Cup garage for now, the veteran has other things going on outside of NASCAR’s top divisions, with both his sons, Jack and Luke, racing at different levels.
For the most part, this may not be the most memorable tenure for the NASCAR legend, but his time at RWR was nothing short of a directional turnaround for the team.
Prior to Baldwin joining in early 2023, the team fielded upwards of 12 to 18 drivers a season (spiking with 18 in 2018) across several cars, all while scoring just one top-five finish from 2017 to 2023.
In 2024, Baldwin’s second season at the helm, the team put together its best season yet, scoring a 25.3 average finish across just five different drivers while fielding two full-time entries.
Still, things have continued to change at RWR, with the team selling a charter to Legacy Motor Club, while also seeing talks of a sale to a new investor slowly simmering down over the past year.
Right now, the team fields just one full-time driver, Rick’s son Cody, who has a 29.0 average finish this season, having finished no better than 17th.
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