Bill Baird

Bill Baird (born July 26, 1949) is an American race car driver. He currently competes in the Ultra4 Racing Series in the #5252 buggy. He is a former Rookie of the Year and champion of the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde stock car Series, and owns Saturn Machine, a steel equipment manufacturer.

Early career Baird, an Air Force veteran, originally began as a stunt pilot hobbyist before later switching to racing in 1987. After starting on dirt oval tracks, he switched to pavement racetracks and competed regularly in the American Speed Association ACDelco Challenge Series.

ARCA career Baird debuted in the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series in 1997, driving the No. 52 for Ken Schrader Racing with sponsorship from Saturn Machine and Spee Dee Pop Popcorn. He made four starts, with his best finish coming in his debut at Daytona International Speedway, where he started third and finished fourth. He made his first full-time bid at the ARCA championship the following season, winning two pole positions and nine top-ten finishes, on his way to a fourth place position in the points standings and the ARCA Rookie of the Year award. In 1999, Baird ran a full-time schedule for the second time, with additional sponsorship coming from Valvoline Eagle One, Baird won his first five races and the overall points championship.

The next season, Baird cut down to a part-time schedule, this time driving the No. 52 as an owner/driver. He made six starts and garnered three top-ten finishes, including a second at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. He also attempted the Pennsylvania 500 and Brickyard 400 in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series that season, but failed to qualify for both events. Following 2000, Baird reunited with Schrader but only attempted a handful of events in the ARCA series each year. He won an additional race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in 2004, his final career ARCA victory to date. His most recent start in the ARCA series came in 2010 at Talladega Superspeedway, where he finished 27th after wrecking halfway through the race.

Post-ARCA career In 2011, Baird purchased an Ultra 4 Buggy from Campbell Enterprises, racing the rest of the 2011 Ultra 4 Series in preparation for the 2012 Griffin King of the Hammers. He was named the Ultra 4 Series Rookie of the Year that same season.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Pts Ref 2000 Baird Motorsports 52 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC DNQ SON DAY NHA POC IND DNQ GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM ATL NA -

ARCA Racing Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 1997 Baird Motorsports 52 Chevy DAY 4 ATL SLM CLT CLT POC MCH SBS TOL KIL FRS MIN POC MCH DSF GTW SLM WIN CLT 26 TAL 20 ISF ATL 26 NA - 1998 Ken Schrader Racing Chevy DAY 22 ATL 34 SLM 17 CLT 38 MEM 5 MCH 8 POC 10 SBS 11 TOL 27 PPR 2 POC 3 KIL 11 FRS 14 ISF 22 ATL 23 DSF 2 SLM 2 TEX 2 WIN 25 CLT 35 TAL 10 ATL 11 4th 4880 1999 DAY 8 ATL 1 SLM 1 AND 16 CLT 11 MCH 7 POC 3 TOL 2* SBS 1* BLN 2* POC 3 KIL 22 FRS 1* FLM 3 ISF 1* WIN 3* DSF 2 SLM 2 CLT 5 TAL 18 ATL 7 1st 5920 2000 Baird Motorsports Chevy DAY 21 SLM 7 AND 29 CLT KIL FRS MCH POC TOL KEN BLN ISF 2 KEN DSF 3 SLM CLT TAL ATL 34th 1005 T.R.I.X. Racing 79 Chevy POC 17 WIN 2001 Ken Schrader Racing 52 Chevy DAY NSH WIN SLM GTY KEN CLT KAN MCH POC MEM GLN KEN MCH POC NSH ISF DNQ CHI DSF 3 111th 215 99 SLM QL† TOL BLN CLT TAL ATL 2002 52 DAY ATL NSH SLM KEN CLT KAN POC MCH TOL SBO KEN BLN POC NSH ISF WIN DSF 18 CHI SLM TAL CLT 137th 140 2004 Baird Motorsports 52 Chevy DAY NSH SLM KEN TOL CLT KAN POC MCH SBO BLN KEN GTW POC LER NSH ISF 1 TOL DSF 2 CHI SLM TAL 62nd 465 2005 DAY NSH SLM KEN TOL LAN MIL POC MCH KAN KEN BLN POC GTW LER NSH MCH ISF 12 TOL DSF 9 CHI SLM TAL 81st 355 2007 Baird Motorsports 52 Dodge DAY 12 USA 37 NSH SLM KAN WIN KEN TOL IOW POC MCH BLN KEN POC NSH ISF 34 MIL GTW TAL 19 TOL 55th 495 Hudson Motorsports 43 Dodge DSF 29 CHI SLM 2008 Ken Schrader Racing 52 Dodge DAY 3 SLM IOW KAN CAR KEN TOL POC MCH CAY KEN BLN POC NSH ISF DSF CHI SLM NJE TAL 26 TOL 89th 215 2009 Chevy DAY 37 SLM CAR TAL 2 KEN TOL POC MCH MFD IOW KEN BLN POC ISF CHI TOL DSF NJE SLM KAN CAR 88th 265 2010 DAY 36 PBE SLM TEX 99th 145 Toyota TAL 27 TOL POC MCH IOW MFD POC BLN NJE ISF CHI DSF TOL SLM KAN CAR † - Qualified for Ken Schrader.