Nic Baalman is our Rookie Modified points champion and Rookie of the
Year. Baalman started racing Cage Karts when he was 12 years old. He
raced these until 2004. Then he went to 600 cc micros, which are mini
sprints. He raced these for two years, and he is 21 years old now.
Baalman worked at Pro Motor Sports and got to know Bobby Bills and
Kenny Sweet Jr. So on the last Wednesday night practice Kenny Sweet Jr.
asked Baalman to drive his car and see how he liked it.
“It felt
really good, and I was hooked from the get go. Me and my parents went
to Bobby Bills and asked him to build me a modified car,” said Baalman.
Baalman states that he knew he would be competitive, but he just
didn’t know how competitive we would actually be. “It was great winning
the championship the first year out,” said Baalman.
After winning
the championship the young driver has to move up to the regular
modified and is looking forward to it. Baalman actually has run with
the regular modifieds during the Wix Filter weekend and in Heartland
Park Topeka and Mayetta and felt like he was really competitive then.
Baalman is a part-time student at Butler County Community College
studying Business Management and Marketing. He also sells manufactured
housing for A-1 Homes of Augusta which was one of his sponsors. Sorry,
girls, Baalman has a girlfriend named Amanda Shelton, who had never
been to a race before she met Baalman but she now likes going to the
races and is very supportive.
“When I was running cage karts I
always dreamed of running the big cars and I just want to tell those
that have those dreams to keep with them,” said Baalman.
Baalman
would like to say a special thank you to his parents Bev and Dennis
Baalman and his sister Mandy; they are all really supportive. Also a
thank you to A-1 Homes of Augusta, Pro Motor Sports, andBobby Bills of
Bills Built Race Cars. Baalman plans on staying in Dirt Track racing
for a while, and maybe someday a bigger form of racing. Congratulations
to Nic Baalman and good luck in the upcoming season.