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Tommy Baldwin explains why he didn't vote for Kurt Busch on Hall of Fame ballot, expresses disappointment

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones05/28/25brianjones_93
Tommy Baldwin Kurt Busch
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images//Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Tommy Baldwin revealed his reason for not voting for Kurt Busch on his NASCAR Hall of Fame ballot. On the Door Bumper Clear podcast, the competition director of Rick Ware Racing said some of the off-the-track issues Busch has dealt with were a reason he didn’t vote for him.

“I was a little disappointed,” Tommy Baldwin said when he learned that Kurt Busch was named to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “Look, is Kurt Busch a Hall of Famer? Absolutely. Did I think he deserved to get in the first year? No. In my opinion, we had a chance to earn some integrity within that group of people that voted – offtrack activities that happened with Kurt and all things that he did.

“When I spoke, I was like, ‘I don’t want my kids to think it’s okay as long as you’re winning races and winning championships to do everything else on the outside.’ I totally disagreed with that situation. I think what pressured everybody was you have a couple of guys coming into the next two years that are first ballot Hall of Famers. And then, where would Kurt be? Well, Kurt would hace had to wait another a couple two, three years, right?”

Tommy Baldwin shares more on Kurt Busch

Baldwin continued, “Everybody who has had off-field or activities happen, a lot of them aren’t in the Hall of Fame of any sport because of those situations. Some of them are, some of them aren’t. I think we really had a chance right there to tell the younger audience that it’s not okay. It’s not okay to do all those things and get in some trouble outside the race car.”

Busch has had some legal issues in the past. In August, the 46-year-old was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated, speeding and reckless driving. Busch pleaded guilty to driving while imparied in November and recieved a 60-day jail sentence which, was suspended for 12 months, and 12 months probation.

While Baldwin didn’t vote for Busch to be part of the next Hall of Fame class, he didn’t deny his talent on the track. In 776 NASCAR Cup Series races, Kurt Busch earned 34 victroies and 339 top-10 finishes. He won the Cup Sereis title in 2004, won he Coca-Cola 600 in 2010 and won the Daytona 500 in 2017. In 2023, NASCAR named Busch as one of its 75 best drivers in history.