NBMotorsports

Here's where I would normall talk about how NBM started and what the car number and sponsors are, but honestly who cares? So at this point I am still typing with the expectations that no give a flying rats ass... With that said, I make race team thread!

Nick Baker hopes for good finish in the Daytona 500:
The Solstice guys got a hint at what the Daytona 500 will bring racingwise and wreckwise as they had the Busch Clash and the Duel races. Based on the racing, Nick Baker says he hopeful for a good finishing spot for the 500. "Obviously, winning is what everyone wants to do there. Realistically, I'm hoping for a top 5 but I would settle for a top 10. I want to get the year started on a high note and get as high in the points as I can early on, so that I can have a decent strategy for the rest of the season."

Baker survives Daytona with a top 10:
After taking it easy most of the race, but having slight damage to his right front, Baker finished 7th in the Daytona 500. He missed a last lap crash to end up in 7th place. "At the end, I knew something was going to happen, it was just a matter of when. Unfortunately it did happen and some of the best cars got taken out in it. I had too much damage at the end to push anyone or suck up really well, so I couldn't help anyone go to the front, but I lucked out with the big one in turn 4 happening. I took it easy most of the race, staying back but not losing the draft, giving myself time to react in case of any wrecks. Pit stops actually went okay for once with me, they've been my issues during green flags, but they were good and kept me drafting with other cars and in one case, some decent drafting partners. All in all good race for the #9 Valvoline Ford Thunderbird!"

Martinsville Preview:
After finishing 7th in all three races this season so far, Nick Baker has been the most consistant finisher so far this season, but not up at the front. Martinsville has been a track that Baker just hasn't been able to figure out, despite having a 2nd place starting position there once, finishing in the top 5 hasn't been easy for him. "I'm not sure what it is about Martinsville that I have a problem with, I either can't find any grip or I just race too hard. Being consistant there has always been an issue with me. I'm not fast, I'm not slow. Hopefully we can find something tomorrow and finally get a top 5 finish there and get my first top 5 of the season!"

Baker gets 6th at Martinsville; moves up to 5th in points:
Nick Baker brought his #9 Motorcraft Ford Thunderbird to a 6th place finish after starting the race in 6th. After 3 consecutive 7th place finishes, Baker's 6th place finish moved him up one spot in the points into 5th place. "We kept our nose clean for the most part, didn't spin out anyone, didn't get involved in any wrecks. Got some bonus points by leading a lap or 2 today. Good day for the #9 team!"

Nick Baker picks up first top 5 of season in an eventful Darlington race:
After starting the race in 5th and staying in the top 10 most of the race, Baker earned his first top 5 of the season at Darlington. Baker didn't get the top 5 very easily though. After several encounters with another (slower) driver, Baker was outside of the top 10 for much of the last 30 laps. When he had a chance to be able to pass said driver, he shoved him out of the way and went on. Pending penalties, fines, and suspensions are eagarly being waited on. But after getting the lucky dog with less than 5 laps to go, Baker knew that a last lap restart would probably cause some issues and wrecks. So holding back, Baker patiently got past a wreck on the back stretch and was sitting in 5th in the final two turns, but the end wasn;'t over. Laps leader Jordan Robson was shoved into the wall and Baker missed him to secure 4th at the line.
"Eventful race, but I showed that I wasn't going to put up with some bullcrap and I ended up with a top 5 anyways, so it was a decent points day. I will, however, take whatever Solstice Racing officials give me for next week or however long it might be."

Baker picks up top 5 at Bristol:
Nick Baker entered Bristol just wanting to survive the race and not get wrecked, but ended the race with a solid 5th place finish. After leading a few laps and running just outside of the top 5 most of the night, Baker got some luck with a couple of cautions, one giving him his lap back. On the final run of the race, Baker took it easy on the start and was going to settle for what he could get, but a couple of guys slowed up to avoid getting wrecked, and he passed Jake Poulin on the inside to seal the 5th place. He chased down Chris Wetz, but didn't have enough to get close enough to put any pressure on him.

"It was a really good race, I was racing around people all race. Kept my tires clean and ran faster than the guys I was racing towards the end of the first run. I was being held up, but it wasn't too big of a deal as I eventually passed those guys. Grabbed myself back to back top 5's and I'm one point out of the top 5 in points. Hopefully a win or two will come my way, but I still have some work to do at most tracks."

Baker picks up first top 5 at North Wilkesboro:
After battling handling issues all night, Nick Baker rallied back to earn his first top 5 at North Wilkesboro. It was quite the struggle for Baker though qualifying 3rd, he quickly fell back towards the bottom of the top 10. He rallied with a two tire pit stops to try to go the rest of the race, but a scoring error happened causing him to lose several laps. Everything was corrected and he got 4th place.

"Wasn't the best race for us, but you take what you get and we got a top 5. Not much to complain about with that, so I won't. We're on a roll with some good runs lately, and hopefully we can keep that up and head to a track I like and go for the win."

Baker talks about season so far, about the return to racing:
Nick Baker was interviewed at the Baker Family Garage near Lilburn, Georgia while preparing for series return at South Boston and talked about his season and how excited he is to get back to racing. "We've probably had the most consistant season, but we didn't finish up front every race, but we still had a few 7th place finishes in a row which set us to 6th in points, then we finished 6th at Martinsville moving me up in the top 5 in points. Then Darlington we finally got a top 5 and have been in or around the top 5 since then. It's been a good season, we started out races fast with qualifying good, that's always been something I've done well at... We just haven't gotten the finishes like we've had in qualifying. I'm just looking for a solid finish in SoBo tonight, should be a good race. Never been there, never even seen the track, so this'll be a first for me. I'm excited to get back on the track, it's been fun racing with everyone and I enjoy it. Our sponsors have been great partners and a lot of them have stuck with me and have believed in me since the beginning, so it's cool to have Valvoline and Stanley Tools, to name a few, continue to sponsor me! I feel pretty good about this season, maybe we can get a win by the end of it. Still looking for that elusive win in this series, but I've always had fun in the retro series."

Runner up finish at Dega boost Baker in points:
After maintaining a clean race car all night and staying out of trouble all race, Nick Baker's 2nd place finish moves him back into the top 5 in points. "The Motorcraft Ford Thunderbird was pretty good tonight, I don't think we lead a lap, so we didn't get those bonus points, but we did get 2nd out of it. It came down to three cars for the win very quickly and I chose to try the high line, but Brinson chose the bottom lane with Caleb, but I still got 2nd. Take the good points day and move on to the next race!"

Baker hopes for top 10 at Sears Point:
Nick Baker has hope that he can conjure up a top 10 at Sears Point tonight, he thinks the key to accomplishing that is survival and staying on course. "I'm hoping to get out of Sears Point having a good points night, I know I'm not that good of a road course racer, I just can't figure out these tracks. Hopefully I can give Great Clips a good run and keep up my points."

Baker, spectators okay after horrific crash in The Winston:
Nick Baker started out solid by qualifying 4th for The Winston, but moved up to 2nd quickly in Segment 1, after spinning out, Baker later went on to win Segment 1 and had to start at the back of segment 2. By the end of Segment 2, Baker was missing his rear bumper, but managed to finish 2nd nonetheless. In the final segment, with 5 to go Baker's car lost its steering and slammed into the wall out of turn 4 collecting Caleb Paul and several others. Baker pitted and restarted towards the back. Coming to the checkered flag, Baker was running third in turn three and clipped the apron, in doing so, he spun out and shot up in to other cars which sent Baker into the wall and into more cars. During the wreck, Baker was flung up in the air and went over the wall towards some spectators.

Baker immediately got out of his car and walked towards the infield care center. He was cleared and had this to say:

"It was a fun race, wish the end didn't go quite like that, on the last lap, I got loose off of turn 2 while being under two other cars and that lost all of the momentum I had on them there, and I guess in turn 3 I clipped the apron and couldn't save it. We had an awesome car, think we're gonna have to use a different one next week, but it's a strong car, too. Hopefully we can get a better finish for that one!"

Baker sets sight on win at Charlotte:
After having one of the best cars last week in The Winston, Baker was short of that win due to track position, but he still didn't want to push his car or other people, he knew that The Winston was a big race to win, but he didn't need to win it. After suffering as little damage as you'd expect, the team quickly fixed the chassis that wrecked on the final lap last week and are bringing it back to Charlotte for the Coke 600. "I think this race is one that we really need to do well in, I'm not going to sell myself short this time, it's time for me to prove to everyone that I can win races and try to move up in the points and try for the championship. Charlotte is part of the trio of tracks that I know I can win at (Texas and Atlanta are the others) and I want to win them, our team needs a good run and it's a good thing we are running at Charlotte, because that's the best place for me to run!"

Baker gets 7th at Charlotte:
After picking to stay out on the final caution, Baker restarted 4th, but ended up finishing 7th in the race. "We had a good car all night, think it could've been a winner. Seventh doesn't say how good our car was, I just chose the wrong strategy at the end. We'll make up for it somewhere, though. We have a good team and have great cars!"

Baker excited about Pocono:
Nick Baker says the Pocono is one of his favorite tracks to race on, so with that, he's excited to be racing on it this week in the Retro Cup Series. Last trip to the tricky triangle, Baker won with a dominant performance, but before that he's picked up several top 5's at the track. "If I can get turn 2 right, I have a good shot, if I don't get turn 2, then I have to rely on turn 1 and 3 to help me out all night. A lot of times I actually underdrive the track, but other times that doesn't hurt me as bad. Like I said, if I can get turn 2 then I have a shot at the win. Hopefully I'll have some luck on my side tonight, also."

Late race troubles take top 5 away from Baker at Pocono:
After struggling most of the race to even keep up with the pack, by the end of the race Nick Baker finally figured out something with the track and his car and was looking pretty strong. With 2 or 3 laps to go, Nick Baker was battling Josh Chin for 3rd place going into turn 2 and Baker got really tight off of the corner and let off to avoid slamming into Chin's side, but when he let off, Chris Wetz didn't realize Baker had checked up and spun Baker out. When the caution came out, it was enough to warrant a 1 lap shootout to the finish. Baker restarted last and had missed a wreck to get up to 9th, but he was unable to pass anyone and ended the night in 9th.

"It's tough with the stretch we've had here lately, we've been running pretty strong in the races and something happens late in the race where it sends me to finish way behind where I could've finished. It's pretty frustrating to have good runs taken away by the crappy luck. It happens and you got to move on from it and deal with it until you get some good luck going again."

Baker looks to rebound at Dover:
After a few weeks of running well and in the top 5, late race cautions and incidents have put Baker out of the finishes he had going. It's been a story of his career so far, but he hopes that Dover will be the turning point of his season. Historically, the finishes don't look good for Baker at Dover, but he's run really well almost every time he's been there. Baker made his racing career debut at Dover back in 2008 and ran pretty good, but was forced to park due to a couple of wrecks he caused.

"Yeah, my first race wasn't that great. We were running in the top 20 in the 24 car field, so that was something to look at, but I probably caused the worst wreck ever, there with Caleb Paul. I still get on him about it and he gives me crap too. Hopefully I can get a great finish out of Dover and turn my season around as it has gone somewhat downhill the last few weeks. If we play our cards right, we could even pull of the win!"

Dover hits the spot for Baker:
The race at Dover is what Baker thinks as a career race for him, he started the race in 2nd and quickly took the lead and led the race until the first caution about 5 laps in. After losing the lead on the pit stops, Baker restarted on the low line and got stuck on the bottom. He spun out right in front of Ian Hann and others which resulted in Ian being collected in the wreck. Baker sustained minimal damage after the incident and restarted shotgun on the field. He carefully worked his way up to 6th and finally got around Auz Grams and Matt Emerson to get into 4th place. A round of green flag pit stops crept up on the field and Baker came in the pits in 4th and came out 3rd and was gaining on the leaders the rest of the race. Baker finished the race in 3rd and is currently tied for 5th in points with Chris Wetz.

"Oh yeah, it was a great race. We had an awesome car tonight and we were able to seal the deal and finished great tonight. It was a great race overall, despite spinning out, we were fast and we were passing guys a lot tonight. Pit stops went extremely well, those have been plaguing me for the longest time and I finally got a good round down! I think if we had a late caution, we wouldn't have finished 3rd, let alone gotten a top 5. So I'm glad we didn't get a caution there."

Baker hopes for good finish at Daytona:
The last time the Solstice Retro Series was at a superspeedway, Baker started off and ran at the back of the pack most of the race, but somehow ended the night finishing 2nd at Talladega. Baker hopes he can produce a similar result this week at Daytona, where he finished 7th at in the season opening Daytona 500 earlier this season.

"If I can run like we did at Talladega and get that kind of finish, that would be quite awesome. I think we will stick with our strategy we've had every superspeedway race with starting in the back and running there until it is time to go and race to the finish. We catch the cautions right and get good green flag pit stops, we can get that finish. We've got what it takes to get the win, we just need to take it easy and then go for it."

Upsetting 10th at Daytona for Baker:
After sticking to his plan, Baker ran in the back of the pack most of the race at Daytona, but he didn't want to finish at the back of the pack like he did either. After Shawn Taylor almost got turned in the trioval with 7 or 8 laps to go, everyone had to check up to avoid wrecking him or each other, but Cory Spencer didn't check up in time to to avoid spinning out Baker. Baker was the only person involved, so a yellow wasn't thrown in the race. This lead the Baker finishing 10th as no one would end up wrecking until the final lap when Baker was too far behind to gain any spots from the accident.

"It's frustrating when you help people all of the time, you let them in, you help them keep up with the draft instead of letting them fall off the draft. I make a move outside and everyone freight trains me and no one helps me at all. It's like, come on, I just pushed you to the front and you leave me out like that? Guess I should just stick to low lining then, no point in trying to get help, no one will do it..."

Baker hopes for strong finish to the season:
After quite a few weeks of bad luck and lackluster finishes, Baker hopes he can turn everything around and bring home some sporty finishes in the #9 Ford Thunderbird in the remaining races. "Our finishes have been rather disappointing as of late, we haven't had the luck we started out with. It's been a really tough time and Homestead's struggles didn't help at all. Just need to keep looking up and get going again."

Bristol brings Baker top 5:
With a fifth place finish at Bristol, Baker turned his season around after failing to finish in the top 5 in the last few races. "That finish was needed to show we can still be pretty competitive here, with the finishes we have been getting, I wasn't satisfied with finishing 7th to 10th on a weekly basis, we still have some tough tracks waiting for us, but I feel we can get good finishes despite that. With a 70 point cushion on 6th place, it's good that this stretch comes now instead of a 10 point cushion or lower. Good runs just need to keep coming though, that's what we really need here."

Baker hopes to better his 2nd at Dega this season:
In the first Talladega race of the season, Nick Baker earned himself a 2nd place finish behind Caleb Paul. This time, he hopes to better that by getting the win. So far, Baker has won at Talladega once, but has yet to win in any Retro Series race, he hopes to change both of those this time around.

Baker gets 6th at Talladega:
In an eventful race, including flips, awkwards spin outs, and a fences, Baker's 6th place effort was way better than it could've been. After started on the last row, Baker quickly established himself as a guy who could push cars to the front, working with guys like Caleb Paul, Brian Wallace, among others. Some troubles early on led to a few crazy wrecks. One of those crazy wrecks involved Baker flying into and getting stuck through a fence. On the frontstretch, before the trioval, several cars got together and all turned towards the inside wall. Bakers car turned right and missed the wall by 2 feet (which would've ended his night, for sure), and hit a hill and launched in the air into a fence. Luckily he was able to make it to his pit stall and fix up most of the damage. He had slight engine damage, though, which kept him from a top 5 in the end.

"After gettting stuck in the fence, I couldn't help but to laugh. That was the weirdest wreck I've ever been in. It looked like everyone's bumpers got stuck together coming out of the turn. I got turned and flew into a fence. I missed the wall by at least a foot, that was a stroke of luck. On the final restart, all of my help vanished, but Jordan Robson helped me and it helped to get him the win. I know Caleb probably would've help me on the final restart, but I got a crappy restart. Sucks because he has a title that he's trying to win. Hopefully we can have a good run to the end of the season and finish in the top 5 in points."

Baker looks to The Rock for first retro win:
After coming close many times before, Baker is still looking for his first win in the retro series, and hopes to end that streak at Rockingham this week. "I've had some good runs at Rockingham and it's one of my favorite tracks to compete at, I think I could have a shot, it would be tough with the competition between the two points leaders who by far have been completely dominant this season. First goal for this week is to finish ahead of Jake (Poulin, who he is fighting with for a top 5 in the points with) and winning would definitely do that. I know I can win, I just have to get it done."