Remember Gary Bechtel? He's coming back to NASCAR, after 10 years off...and partnering with Tommy Baldwin
New owner-crew chief Tommy Baldwin is determined to be no flash-in-the-pan (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
By Mike Mulhern
mikemulhern.net
BRISTOL, Tenn.
Gary Bechtel, the former NASCAR team owner (1990-1999), and part of the world-famous Bechtel engineering family, is getting back into the sport, some 10 years after getting burned out by the experience.
And this time he's doing it in a new partnership with fledgling Cup owner Tommy Baldwin, the veteran crew chief who has been trying to make a go of it this season with stuff left over from the demise of the Bill Davis Toyota operation.
Bechtel calls it "an incredible opportunity," and says he is "very impressed with what Tommy has been able to accomplish in just three months.
"I love his passion and his desire to be successful.
"I hope to bring the last piece of the puzzle."
Bechtel has been living near San Francisco; no word on if he'll move back to North Carolina.
Scott Riggs is Baldwin's driver this season; but the team failed to make the fields at Las Vegas and Atlanta.
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Wow. I thought we'd seen the
Wow. I thought we'd seen the last of Gary Bechtel in 1999 when Jeff Purvis drove his Chevrolets and ran pretty well in them. I don't know how much this will help Baldwin, who seems to realize by taking on Bechtel that he jumped into something he's not capable of handling and needs the help.
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I always liked Gary, just
I always liked Gary, just felt he never had the right advice here in NASCAR....Tommy will certainly show him the ropes...after the last few years with BD, Tommy knows just what's what. And I sense Gary still wants to redeem himself, in a sense -- to show he can do this. Besides how much fun can it be to sit around with a bunch of dogs and just romp through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada -- but come to think of it.....