Baldwin has fondness for New Hampshire

HIGH POINT, NC - Returning to New Hampshire International Speedway stirs up fond memories for Tommy Baldwin Jr. Long before he became most famous for his role as the crew chief for Ward Burton's No. 22 Caterpillar Pontiac, Baldwin visited New Hampshire International's one-mile flat oval in the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series. Of course, he didn't just visit - he won. "We started going to New Hampshire International Speedway when the Bahre's first opened the track," said Baldwin. "I was working with my father and we always ran good everywhere we went, including New Hampshire. Top fives most of the time and we always finished in the top five in points together. We just never won at New Hampshire. "I worked with my dad for most of teenage years, but I thirsted for more," said Baldwin. "I wanted to prove to everybody that I could make it on my own. I wanted people to realize that I wasn't just another kid helping out his dad. I wanted them to know that I was legit and I could make it on my own." In middle of the 1994 season, Baldwin stepped out of the shadow of his father and went to work with another team. "I left my father and went to work for Scott Bandzul, who hired me as their crew chief," added Baldwin. "Jeff Fuller drove for them and we worked together for the rest of that year. While we were together the last half of that season, we won four of the last 10 races, including once at New Hampshire. Then Jeff left to move south and pursue other options as a driver." With the loss of Fuller, Baldwin and his team were forced to find a replacement. So, they took a chance on a young, hot shoe name Steve Park. Park and his new crew chief gelled almost instantaneously. They dominated the last half of the season, winning seven of the last 11 races. They were also involved in the closest points battle in the history of the Modified Series. Tony Hirschman eventually edged out Park by a mere three points. The competitive fire had been lit and still illuminates today. Baldwin, Park and Fuller have all gone on to be successful at their perspective careers. Baldwin captured his first-career win as a crew chief when he and Burton won at Darlington Raceway in March. Steve Park soon followed suit with a victory last month at Watkins Glen International. Jeff Fuller graduated from the Busch Series to Winston Cup this year when he became the driver of the Eel River Racing Pontiac. "Tommy and I get together now and laugh about the old times," said Park. "It used to be a lot of fun, but a lot of work. We laugh about when we were together, we didn't just want to win - we wanted to lap the entire field. That was our mindset. We had become so competitive that we couldn't stand to be beat." Baldwin spent 32 races working with Park and Fuller. In those 32 races, they sat on the pole 15 times and won 11 races. Three of those wins came at New Hampshire International Speedway. "I've shared success with a lot people at New Hampshire," said Baldwin. "Between Steve and Jeff, we won there three times. And up until this year, Mike Ewanitsko held the track record from a pole he sat on when we worked together in 1993. It's just always been a special place for me. I consider it my home track because it isn't very far from where I grew up in Long Island and I spent a lot of years racing here in the Modified Series. "Success at that level is very rewarding because you did most of the work with just a few guys. Now, there are almost 100 people that go into a wining team at the Winston Cup level. We'd like to add a win at New Hampshire with the Winston Cup car." This weekend at New Hampshire International Speedway, Baldwin and the Caterpillar Racing team hope they can turn things around. "We've struggled a little bit there in the past, but we ran pretty decent when we were here in July," added Baldwin. "We got on a different pit sequence and then the rain came and it kind of caught us, but we would have recovered if the rain hadn't come. Most of the teams that were in front of us were going to have to pit again for fuel, but didn't need to be cause the rain came and the race was shortened. The only good thing is that we now have a fairly decent set-up to work with when we get back to New Hampshire." Baldwin and Burton have already found victory lane this year in the Mall.com 400 at Darlington Raceway in March and were in position to win again at Darlington a few weeks ago. They would like to find victory lane again during the 2000 season. In front of a hometown crowd, New Hampshire International Speedway would be a great place.