SVRA: Jack Baldwin right at home at Sebring

Jack Baldwin is an incurable racer. At 67, his race-driving career spans nearly five decades and in 2016 he optimistically faces yet another transition just as he has throughout his time in racing. Baldwin, best known as the wheelman behind the colorful and eye-catching Hot Wheels Camaro he drove to the 1992 Trans Am championship is the latest hugely talented, successful pro racer to bring his skills to the America's GT Challenge with the SportsCar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA).

This weekend at Sebring is a perfect example of the big-name driving talent a fan can find at an SVRA event. Roaming the pits and paddock are such major racing stars as George Follmer, Lyn St. James, Willy T. Ribbs and Bob Tullius. While these true legends are in ceremonial roles such as Tullius, who is serving as the weekend grand marshal, St. James and Ribbs have been in the thick of SVRA competition before with the Indy Legends Charity Pro-Am at the Brickyard. St. James is even more involved, as it is not unusual to see her in several SVRA events during a season.

As for Baldwin, he brought his 2011 Porsche Cayman S (RIGHT) to Sebring this weekend largely based on the enticement of competing in the Stuttgart Cup class of the America's GT Cup. That organization announced a strategic agreement with the SVRA late last year to build a seven-race season. They join the vintage racers at those seven races within the SVRA's longer 16 event weekends. Baldwin is also considering racing in the SVRA Group 12 events in the future.

"I'm not entirely sure what all racing I will do this year," says Baldwin. "I am expecting to do a lot with the Stuttgart Cup and if we can work through some rulebook issues I'll probably jump in with the vintage racers as well."

Most recently, Baldwin raced his GTSport Racing Gen 2 Cayman S in the Pirelli World Challenge GTS class (LEFT, LAT photo), where he enjoyed great success despite a lack of factory support. In four seasons beginning with 2012 he racked up eight victories, 30 podium positions and 16 pole positions. On-track success aside, Baldwin is probably proudest of his accomplishments in developing his Porsche.

"I saw the potential of the Gen 2 Cayman S platform from the beginning," Baldwin asserts. "When we got started developing it at GTSport Racing, it became quite clear Porsche just did not see the product as a racecar. After a lot of hard work we started winning races and I know we influenced their approach to engineering and marketing. We became recognized as the most expert developers of the Cayman S as a racecar in the world."

Still, Baldwin agrees that his time with the Hot Wheels Camaro in Trans Am is what he is best known for. Not only was he series champ in 1992 but also he was Trans Am Rookie of the Year in 1990.

"Those years in Trans Am defined my career," Baldwin says. "The Hot Wheels Trans Am Camaro is arguably one of the most recognized Trans Am cars of all time. The car had huge broad base appeal in and out of motorsports and was known worldwide."

In three seasons he picked off five overall wins but the marketing power of Hot Wheels and their partners created a kind of cult following for the driver some in the media began calling, "the Dale Earnhardt of Trans Am." That's heady praise but the fact of the matter is that when Hot Wheels created replicas of his racer and then worked a deal to include the tiny cars in McDonald's Happy Meals, tens of thousands of kids wanted to meet the driver. Baldwin recalls going to a Hot Wheels convention and being blown away by the level of interest.

"I had no idea, really," Baldwin says. "I signed autographs for days. Parents were waiting with their kids 200 deep."

It's not that Baldwin didn't have a stout resume before he arrived in Trans Am. In 1984 he won the GTU class at both the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring driving the Malibu Grand Prix Mazda Rx-7. Later, he won the 12-hour classic again, in 1997 driving the Hot Wheels Oldsmobile Aurora in the GTS-1 class. Getting the opportunity that took him to his 1984 Daytona and Sebring wins was a long, hard road.

"It took me 15 years to get a break," Baldwin confirms. "I sold rock and roll merchandise for a while. I marketed the first black and silver Arrowsmith tee shirt. All of it was about getting what I needed until I got a really good opportunity in racing."

Baldwin's racing career began with SCCA regional contests in the early 1970s. He demonstrated talent through regional championships and in 1972 captured the U.S. Formula Ford title. Perseverance paid off, leading him to big stages like Daytona and Sebring. His Trans Am success earned him a shot at the All-Star game of motorsports at the time: the International Race of Champions in 1993 and 1994. There he went toe-to-toe with the likes of Dale Earnhardt and Al Unser Jr. – sometimes getting the best of them, like when he edged the Intimidator for second place at Talladega in 1993.

This weekend at Sebring is like old home week for the former Trans Am champion as the series celebrates its 50th birthday at the track where it first appeared. The current series is sharing the venue with SVRA as well as the Historic Trans Am series with their documented cars of the late 1960s and early 1970s once wheeled by the likes of Parnelli Jones and Dan Gurney. One of Baldwin's contemporaries from his Trans Am days, Ron Fellows, also entered in SVRA competition this weekend in the Dave Roberts yellow Roger Penske/Mark Donohue tribute car, a 1969 Camaro Z/28.

Unfortunately, Ron spun an engine bearing in Friday qualifying and had to load up on the team trailer (RIGHT). Fellows is one of the all-time winningest Trans Am drivers with 20 victories as is another of Baldwin's old buddies, Willy T. Ribbs, whose career total of 19 wins commands respect.

"It's great to be at a race track with Jack again," Ribbs says. "Let me tell you, he is not only one of the most determined racers I've known, he is also one of the best road racers you'll find anywhere."

Wherever Jack Baldwin decides to race throughout the year, it seems pretty clear he is not slowing down.

"I'm a guy who always wanted to be a race driver," Baldwin says. "I have followed my dream.

Even this late in his career, Jack Baldwin is reveling in his success. On Saturday morning he won the Porsche Cayman class for the Stuttgart Cup. There is no doubt the welcome mat is out at Sebring for Baldwin – and he should feel right at home.