Meet Luke Baldwin: Rising NASCAR Talent

Luke Baldwin grew up a in a famed racing family, though his path to driving wasn’t immediate. “I played a ton of sports growing up, which turned my interest away from racing, but at about 14, when I realized it was pretty terrible at everything I was playing, I caught the bug again,” Baldwin said. “I started working in the shop around that time, trying to play catchup from all the years I missed out on. Finally at 16 I got in a legend car, now I’m 19 racing Modifieds, Late Models, and Trucks.”

When I asked about the most important skill he learned from growing up in a racing family, Baldwin emphasized understanding the car he drives. “I’m not a genius in the shop by any means, but I pride myself in knowing how to work on my racecars, and I think that helps a lot with being able to dial one in.”

Luke Baldwin comes from racing royalty in the Northeast. His dad Tommy Baldwin Jr was a long time crew chief and worked with many drivers including Dick Trickle, Ward Burton, and Kasey Kahne. After his crew chief tenure he ran his own NASCAR team that competed full time from 2010-2016. Luke's grandfather Tom Baldwin was a famed modified racer and a fixture at Riverhead Raceway the only active track in the family home base of Long Island.

Baldwin never worked in his father Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s Cup or Xfinity shop. “Regretfully, I never did work in his Cup or Xfinity shop. Unfortunately just rode my scooter around and sat in the seat. When my brother started racing is when I got iRacing, and that’s when I fell in love with it.”

We talked about his father’s fiery reputation, and I asked Luke what his dad's most memorable crashout. Baldwin talked about a recent incident at South Boston. “I think the wildest I’ve seen was earlier this year at South Boston, where most people saw him getting pulled down by a tow truck driver. I understand where he was coming from, but in that moment, no I don’t think it was completely justified. He wasn’t mad at the wreck that occurred, because that was Jack’s fault, he was mad at the other group running their mouths, so that part I understand.” The tow truck incident is a reoccurring joke on his dad's podcast Door Bumper Clear'

Baldwin has raced in multiple series recently, from the SMART Tour to the NASCAR Truck Series, noting the Truck Series has been the most beneficial for his development. “If I’m lucky enough to continue my career and keep climbing the ladder, I’m going to be dealing with heavy stock cars, dirty air, big tracks, and you don’t get any of that with the other cars I’ve raced.” Many experts note that the Truck Series races the closest to the Cup Series. Reflecting on his debut in the Truck Series, Baldwin said, “Making my debut at Martinsville definitely helped, but it was definitely a learning curve. I showed that at Kansas when I got in a bad aero spot and ruined my race. So yes it was hard to adapt, but I feel like I’m getting a bigger understanding every time I’ve been behind the wheel.”

Baldwin has had solid runs with Sandusky, Ohio based team ThorSport Racing this year. I asked the 19 year old who at the team has helped him the most given the big jump to Trucks, “Ty Majeski has been a big help, but there are a lot of people that have played a role. Rich Lucius, Doug George, Eddie Troconis, the people at Ford, in the sim. That’s just to name a few.” Baldwin also explained how the partnership came together: “Towards the end of last year my dad and I decided we wanted to try and take the next step, so we reached out to people and had conversations, weighed everything out, and ThorSport was a great fit for us. Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) were gracious enough to give me the opportunity to do it.”

No driver is perfect so I asked Luke what flaws he discovered this season and what he's planning on working on before 2026. “Getting a late start has definitely taken its toll. I’d say I just need to be more polished, limit mistakes. I’ve gotten myself caught up in bad positions and probably given away races, way too many times, so I’m definitely looking to eliminate those.”

Luke's friend group consists of NASCARs next generation of superstars he is close to Connor Zilisch, Brent Crews, and Jesse Love. Now with them all being amazing up and coming racecar drivers I wanted to see if they all learn from each other and how intense their sim racing sessions can get. “I don’t know if they learn much from me, but I definitely learn a ton from them. It’s been good for me to listen in on conversations and have people to ask questions when I have them so often. Believe it or not, we actually don’t ever really play iRacing together, it might ruin relationships.”

In the US alot of parents seem to throwing their kids in adult racing series and cars at very young ages. With Luke being a young driver I asked for his views, Baldwin commented, “I have mixed feelings on this. I’ve seen young kids hop in full-sized cars and immediately impress, for example, Keelan Harvick. However, I’ve also seen many kids do quite the opposite, and it usually depends on the people around them. I don’t have an exact answer on a fix, but I do think the minimum age might be a little low.”

As the interview winded down I asked Luke some fun questions and got to learn more about who he is off the track. When asked who’s faster, he said simply, “Me,” referring to his older brother Jack. His favorite racing movie: “Days of Thunder.” His ideal co-drivers for a hypothetical 24 Hours of Le Mans entry would be “Connor Zilisch and SVG.” Another cool thing is Luke will be in the upcoming NASCAR video game as a driver in the Truck Series with the 66 ThorSport machine, Baldwin said, “I’m pumped, extremely pumped, but I’m not sure if I’m as excited about that as my brother is to wreck me in the game.”

Overall it was great to talk with and get to know a great up and coming talent in NASCAR. Many are touting Luke for a full time seat in 2026 but no plans have been announced. No matter what happens though Luke Baldwin will be a key name to watch whether it's on Fox, Flo or wherever you get your racing fix.