Jerry Baxter Helping KBM Team at NHMS
Kyle Busch Motorsports has some extra help for this weekend’s race from Jerry Baxter. The Mooresville, NC team is fielding cars for Christopher Bell and Kaz Grala in Sunday’s AIM 60, the inaugural Pro All Stars Series (PASS) race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“It’s still seat time for these young drivers, and that’s ultimately what we’re trying to do to move ’em up the ladder,” Baxter said.
Baxter grew up around Super Late Models and “figured now is as a good a time as any to get back at it.”
He led first-time winners David Reutimann in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and Cale Gale in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. A two-year run with Darrell Wallace, Jr. saw five wins and a best finish of third in points last season.
“I’ve kind of spent my career doing that working with all the young drivers from (David) Reutimann to Trevor Bayne to Travis Pastrana, Cale Gale. You name it, a bunch of ’em and Bubba was just another one and he’s definitely put his mark on the sport, proud of him, done a good job and still doing a good job over in the XFINITY Series.
The Crew Chief of the No. 51 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has four top fives, and eight top tens in nine races. He has accomplished this with three drivers Joe Gibbs Racing and XFINITY Series rookie Daniel Suarez, Matt Tifft, Christopher Bell. Bell finished fifth in his debut at Iowa.
“I do the 51 truck at KBM and have Daniel Suarez, Matt Tifft, and Kyle whenever he gets back to running trucks. All three of them are splitting my truck, so kind of have a little variety of drivers, fun, something different.” Kyle Busch is scheduled to run Pocono, Michigan, and New Hampshire.
Suarez finished second in his last two starts at Dover and Texas.
“He’s a good little driver. … Our trucks are solid. If they just go out and don’t stray away from the baselines and I keep an eye on them, we’re fine. They’ll be fast.”
Baxter was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame on June 25. He estimated his chassis company in California built 350 Super Late Models before he relocated east to start his current career.
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com