Scott Riggs is parting ways with #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing following the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowes Motor Speedway, the driver said Sunday. Riggs has qualified for eight of the first 12 races with a top finish of 25th in the Daytona 500. Riggs ran only 54 laps at Richmond and 101 laps at Darlington before his day ended because of mechanical issues. Riggs said Sunday he wasnt optimistic that the #36 Toyota team could continue to compete for the full length of future events without significant sponsorship and that, combined with the teams performance, made it time for him to leave. He will start the Coca-Cola 600 in the 43rd spot.”Im a competitor and Im a racer,” Riggs said.””¦ It kills my soul to know that we go to the race track and were not going to be competitive. Even if the car is competitive, were not going to be there around at the end to be competitive. I knew when we first started this deal it was going to be a possibility, I knew it was going to be hard and a struggle to get sponsorship and get it off the ground. “¦ I just know we needed something to change.” Riggs said he and Baldwin talked about the situation this past weekend and the decision was made for him to leave.(SceneDaily)(5-25-2009) UPDATE: on Monday’s NASCAR Raceday, it was mentioned Mike Skinner will driver at Dover and races that do not conflict with the Truck Series races, Patrick Carpentier will run the five races that Skinner cannot and Brian Simo will run in the road courses.(5-25-2009) UPDATE 2: Mike Skinner, Patrick Carpentier and Brian Simo will share the driving duties of the Tommy Baldwin Racing Toyota for the remainder of the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season. Skinner will drive 17 of the remaining 24 races on the 2009 schedule. Carpentier will be behind the wheel during both Poconos, the June 28 race at New Hampshire, the September 12 race at Richmond and wrap up with the September 27 race at Dover. Brian Simo will navigate the #36 machine during the two road course events.(TBR)(5-26-2009)
