Scott to Be Real: Riggs and Tommy Baldwin Race Into Daytona 500

No different from any other sport, NASCAR racing offers its own rendition of the "feel good story" of the week. Like many Americans, both racer and car owner looked like they would have a hard go of things as far as finding employment in 2009.

Let's start with Scott Riggs, who drove the No. 70 State Water Heats Chevrolet for Haas Racing. With one top 10 finish coming in the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, and a lowly 31st place position in the points standings, Riggs did not exactly set the racing world on a tear in 2008.

Not exactly helping Riggs' cause was that his team was essentially bought by two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart, who did a clean house of the embattled Gene Haas organization and revamped it to Stewart-Haas Racing.

Stewart and fellow Indiana friend Ryan Newman took over the spots occupied by Riggs and "Whoever Occupied the No. 66 Car."

Then there's Tommy Baldwin, who was a longtime fixture with Bill Davis Racing as the crew chief of the No. 22 car driven over the years by Ward Burton, Scott Wimmer, and Dave Blaney.

When the operation switched over to Toyota and added on the No. 36 team that was meant for Jeremy Mayfield, the transactions proved to be the fatal blow to BDR.

By the end of 2008, Riggs and Baldwin found themselves without a job and perhaps facing the fate of being nothing more than spectators in the racing scene.

Fortunately for the racing duo, the two would find themselves back on their feet, strongly aided by the sanctioning body's ban of testing at any NASCAR tracks on the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Trucks Series.

Last month, Baldwin decided to venture out to form Tommy Baldwin Racing, basing their operations in Mooresville, N.C. The Bellport, New Yorker would piece together his team.

Baldwin aligned himself with Toyota Racing Development. Eventually, he would recruit his supporting cast of the men and women working at his racing shop to the roster of his pit crew.

A few weeks later in January during the sport's media tour, Baldwin announced that his driver for the #36 Toyota rides would be Scott Riggs, who he said was a "top caliber driver."

While Riggs has yet to truly make any headway into the elite ranks of NASCAR and may not have much time to prove his mark in the Sprint Cup series (being "old" at age 38), both driver and owner Baldwin have much to prove in this season as an underdog team looking to garner success in 2009.

Their first moment of glory would come in Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifiers, when Riggs came home in eighth in the first race. But you would not know it from the camera shots of Riggs' pit box, where euphoria struck the Tommy Baldwin crew. They looked like they just won The Great American Race.

Baldwin and Riggs' successful feel good story in the Duels made for some noise in their local papers back in Ohio and New York's Long Island region.

In a sport where corporate dollars, young guns, and hyping of star drivers dominate the storylines, this particular case is one to be watched in 2009.

Race fans, the days of the independents may be back in NASCAR. Maybe they will not reach Victory Lane, make the Chase, or get much TV time on a consistent basis.

But make no mistake, when you want to find true, gritty racers who go out there to compete with their all, Tommy Baldwin Racing's product may epitomize such efforts of the "little guy" making big strides in a rich person's sport.