As the NASCAR Cup Series gears up for its return to racing at Darlington Raceway next Sunday, Tommy Baldwin Racing will make its own return. On Monday, the team announced it will run the Darlington race with the #7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Josh Bilicki.
“I am excited to be returning to the NASCAR Cup Series,” team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. said. “I have been in this sport for a long time, and I believe now is the best time to get back to the track.”
The team has not started a Cup race since 2017; its assets were eventually acquired by Premium Motorsports; Baldwin, a longtime crew chief, has served as Premium’s Competition Director and chief. In 2019 and 2020, he worked a similar role at Spire Motorsports, including the 2020 Daytona 500 with Ross Chastain.
TBR attempted to qualify for the 2019 Daytona 500 with Ryan Truex, but missed the show. Opened by Baldwin in 2009, the team’s best finish is third on two occasions with Dave Blaney at Talladega Superspeedway in 2011 and Regan Smith at Pocono Raceway‘s fog-shortened race in 2016.
Bilicki, who began racing in NASCAR’s national series in 2016, has thirteen Cup starts since 2017. Driving for Rick Ware Racing in every attempt, his best finish is twenty-ninth at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2019.
At the Xfinity Series level, he has five top-twenty finishes. He finished thirty-third in the 2018 standings, his lone full-time Xfinity campaign. Although the Wisconsinite has never raced at Darlington in the Cup Series, he finished twenty-eighth in his only start there with the Xfinity Series in 2018.
“I am very excited to be piloting the #7 Gravely/CNC Swiss Machining Camaro for Tommy Baldwin Racing,” Bilicki said. “Darlington is one of my favorite tracks, and I can’t wait to get back on track, after a long two month break.”
The season will resume on 17 May.