Tommy Baldwin Racing, which fields the #7 Chevrolet SS for Regan Smith in the Sprint Cup Series, has announced they have sold their charter and will close their full-time operation after the 2016 season.
Baldwin released a on statement Facebook Thursday evening, announcing the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be the final event for TBR as a full-time team.
“For the past eight years we’ve shown up at every race, worked hard to compete at the top level and bring value to our sponsors,” he stated. “I feel confident that we are moving on having accomplished that. There have been many teams like ours that have come and gone. I’m proud that we have been able to sustain ourselves from the very beginning.”
Entering Homestead, the team was ranked 32nd in the owners championship. Smith, who replaced Alex Bowman in the ride for the 2016 season, has two top-ten finishes and one top-five, a 3rd-place finish at Pocono in August. TBR sold their charter to Leavine Family Racing, owner of the #95 Chevy driven by Michael McDowell and Ty Dillon, effective immediately. The charter went to Leavine’s part-time #59 team for McDowell for the Ford EcoBoost 400, meaning Smith will have to qualify for the race on speed due to a lack of a charter to guarantee a spot on the starting grid. LFR had been seeking a charter for the 2017 season as the one they had acquired in a merger with Circle Sport will return to CS owner Joe Falk when the two teams part ways after 2016.
TBR, originally a Busch/Nationwide Series team, first fielded a Cup ride in 2009 for Scott Riggs, the #36, at the Daytona 500. Running with Toyota, the #36 also saw Mike Skinner, Patrick Carpentier and Robert Richardson Jr. driving that year. TBR switched to Chevrolet for the 2010 season for drives like Mike Bliss, Johnny Sauter, Casey Mears, Geoff Bodine, Ron Fellows and J. J. Yeley. Dave Blaney joined the team later that year, helping Baldwin grow his operation and also taking over the #36 in 2011. Blaney would record the team’s first top-five and top-ten at the 2011 Good Sam Club 500 with a third-place run. While Blaney ran full-time in the car, Baldwin also fielded part-time rides, the #35 and the #10, for Bodine, Stephen Leicht, David Reutimann and Danica Patrick. 2013 saw Blaney and Yeley race full-time for TBR in the #7 and #36, respectively. Yeley recorded the team’s second top-ten at the season-opening Daytona 500 with a tenth-place finish, though Reed Sorenson would replace him for 2014. Blaney also departed TBR after 2013 and was replaced by rookie Michael Annett in the #7 for 2014, though he returned on a part-time basis later that year in the #37.
The team scaled back to a one-car operation in 2015, fielding the #7 for former BK Racing driver Alex Bowman. Although he failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, Bowman ran the full schedule, finishing 33rd in points and recording a best finish of 16th at the spring Talladega race. Despite receiving a contract extension in June, he was released in January 2016 in favor of Smith. In the Daytona 500, Smith finished eighth for the team’s third top-ten. He is currently 33rd in the drivers standings.
Featured image courtesy of Motor Racing Network
