The future looks bright for the new generation of Baldwin Brothers as both Luke and Jack Baldwin have announced plans for the 2024 racing season that include the big jump into Tour-Type Modified racing. 

16-year old Luke Baldwin will make the step-up from 602 Crate Modified racing to compete full-time in the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic in 2024. The news came Tuesday in a social media post as SS Racing, the Modified team owned by former NASCAR driver Hermie Sadler and Virginia Senator Bill Stanley, will field a 7va PSR Racing Chassis for Luke to contend for the Racing Electronics Rookie of the Year title. Also revealed in the release was that NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Labonte will move to a part-time schedule for the SS Racing team while team mainstay Jonathan Cash moves to a full-time seat on the SMART Tour.  Luke will also compete in select CARS Tour Pro Late Model races and 602 Crate Modified races with his family owned Tommy Baldwin Racing team.  

20-year old Jack Baldwin, announced today that he will race 11 races in the SK Modified division at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway. He will also make his Tour-Mod debut racing in three SMART Modified Tour events as well as the Islip 300 at New York’s Riverhead Raceway in the family’s famed black No. 7NY machine. 

“I’m ecstatic to make the move to Tour-Type Modifieds and also compete at Stafford in 2024," said Jack Baldwin in a team release. “Stafford has what I think is the most competitive weekly racing division in the country. I got a taste of it last year, but I’m looking forward to building on what I learned and looking to get to victory lane this season. The SMART Modified Tour has a great lineup of drivers and competing with them will be a great learning experience.”

For Luke Baldwin, the move comes after a successful two years of racing 602 Crate Mods throughout the southeast. The third generation driver, and son of long-time NASCAR crew chief and car owner Tommy Baldwin Jr, says he’s ready to make the leap to the higher-horsepower Modified.  

“I don’t think words can describe how exciting this is for me,” admits Luke Baldwin. “I’ve actually lost sleep thinking about it. I’m counting down the days and so pumped. I am so grateful that Hermie and Bill had this much faith in me to choose me to come do this. It feels like yesterday I was watching Caleb Heady race his first Tour Mod races in my dad’s car and was wishing someday that would be me. If you would’ve told me last year that I’d be running full time on the SMART Tour I’d say you were nuts. I’m so excited. They are a different animal with horsepower and tire. I’m ready for it, prepared and pumped.” 

The Lake Norman High School Senior scored two wins during New Smyrna Speedway’s World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing in 2023 and captured the championship in the process. Both he and brother Jack will compete in the Crate Modified division at the 58th running of the Speedweeks event at the Florida short track in February. 

“It’s cool to return as defending champion,” says Luke. “I love that place. I’ve had some of the most fun in my life at that place. It’s a fun race track to race at and obviously I’ve had success. I’m glad my brother will be in the hunt with me this year and hopefully he won’t have issues so we can battle it out together. Racing there, for us, dates back to my grandpa and three generations there so that’s a really important aspect to making the trip down there.”

The Baldwin family has been a mainstay in Modified racing. Luke and Jack’s grandfather, “Tiger” Tom Baldwin was a fixture in northeast asphalt Modified racing. Tom was a stalwart at places like Islip Speedway and Riverhead Raceway on Long Island and became a veteran leader on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.  He has six Whelen Modified Tour wins to his record, his final coming at the 1996 Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway (CT). In several seasons of competing during Speedweeks in Florida, the elder statesman of the Baldwin family scored two World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing championships and nine-wins at New Smyrna Speedway. Sadly, Baldwin passed away after a crash at Thompson Motor Speedway in August of 2004.  

Tommy Baldwin Jr. carried on his father’s winning ways moving from Long Island to Charlotte, NC and into the upper ranks of NASCAR as a crew chief, and later, a successful car-owner.  His biggest triumph came as a crew chief winning the Daytona 500 in 2002 with Bill Davis Racing and driver Ward Burton. Tommy has owned cars on both the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic for years. TBR Racing captured the 2022 SMART Tour Championship with young Kentucky driver Caleb Heady. The same year, TBR took the Whelen Mod owners title. In 2023, TBR scaled back its Modified efforts as Tommy Baldwin Jr battled cancer. He recently shared the good news on social media that he is “cancer free.”

Luke has family connections and a good amount of familiarity when it comes to racing with the SS Racing Team.

“I spotted for the SS Racing team this year for Ryan Newman,” adds Luke. “Working with these guys won’t be a big change for me as I got to work with them and PSR Chassis last year. (Crew Chief) Neil Cantor and I have known each other our whole lives. He worked with me dating back to my first ever Legends Car race. He helped us so much with those cars and was my first crew chief so I’m excited to get together and work with him again.” 

For Luke, carrying on the family legacy carries pressure, but he’s using it as motivation. 

“It really is pressure and motivation at the same time,” explains Luke. “Pressure is privilege. Pressure will help me perform. I need a certain amount of pressure for me to have the right state of mind. I have the people I look up to, like my grandpa, who I model my driving style after, and it’s motivating to have that family history.” 

The 58th Annual World Series of Stock Car Auto Racing will be broadcast live on FloRacing.com as well as weekly racing at Stafford Motor Speedway and all of the races for the SMART Modified Tour in 2023.. Fans can subscribe to FloRacing by clicking here.