CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Story and photo by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman —

Announced on Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Great Hall, Tommy Baldwin Racing and Toy State unveiled a multi-year agreement that will see them continue as a primary sponsor of the No. 7 Chevrolet, driven by Alex Bowman, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Toy State joined TBR as a sponsorship partner in 2015 and was the primary sponsor for 10 events, plus the season-opening Daytona 500.

Over the next two years, that number will increase — to 13 races in the coming year and 17 races in 2017, marking a big investment for a rising company in motorsports. Team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. expressed his enthusiasm at the extension, saying that retaining one of the team’s major partners and strengthening their relationship ahead of the 2016 Cup campaign “is key to our success.”

“We’re really excited about the next couple of year that we’ll have in racing because of this new agreement,” Baldwin said. “The key to us staying in business has been just being patient and persistent. I’ve been in racing a long time and have seen a lot of people come and go, but I’ve always felt that if we took our time building our program and in creating great relationships like the one we share now with Toy State, that we could end up being a team to reckon with down the road, and this is a big step towards that goal.”

“This is an exciting time for our race team. We’re going into our eighth year and this is really our first winter that we’ve been able to concentrate on going fast instead of just trying to stay alive. We’ve got a lot of good things going on and I couldn’t be more ready to get to Daytona and kick off a new season, because I believe we’ve got some good days coming ahead.”

“Toy State has been making toys for about 30 years now, and we’re always coming up with both new toys and new ways to market them,” added Andy Friess, president of Toy State. “It’s been great fun working with Tommy, Alex and the entire team over the course of the 2015 season and we’re thrilled to be back for 2016 and beyond.”

“In 2016 what we’re trying to do is bring the paint schemes [on the Cup cars] closer to what fans would actually see on our toy lines,” Friess added, referencing an all-new blue and orange flamed livery, complete with shark fangs across the front bumper, that will hit the track during the 2016 season. “Last year, we were excited to unveil the Nikko [RC Cars] machine and it looked great on track, but what you’ll see this next year is our paint schemes match some of our products — we actually have a shark monster truck available. The beautiful machine you see sitting alongside the stage is a close replica of that, and we’re excited to bring these fun designs that we’ve had with our toys onto the track next year.”

The announcement comes just one day after Toy State announced a licensing agreement with NASCAR for the 2016 season, marking a time of growth for the company in the motorsports industry.

“We’re looking forward to our licensing agreement with NASCAR as well. With some of the great cars that make their way onto the tracks each week able to now be added to our radio-control [product] lines, we’re excited about the future and being able to grow our company in association with NASCAR and the fans.”

Bowman raced in all but one of the 36 Sprint Cup races in 2015, after a DNQ in the season-opening Daytona 500. He scored a season-best finish of 16th at Talladega in May, had his contract extended to 2016 by TBR in June and ended the year ranked 33rd in driver points.

Despite having known ahead of time that he was back in the seat, Bowman said a new year brings a new perspective and a clean slate. With eyes focused forward and building on his partnership with Toy State, the Tucson, Ariz. native is anticipating an uptick in his and TBR’s ability to perform in the upcoming season.

“I’ve worked with a lot of cool brands during my time driving race cars and being in the sport, but I’ve never gotten to work with a brand quite as special as Toy State in what they do and bring to the table,” Bowman said. “We do so much with kids and going to hospitals and doing visits to give stuff away; it’s really a great thing to be a part of. To have them on the car [again] and to get to put smiles on kids faces everywhere we go is a cool feeling and I’m glad to be able to continue that in 2016.”

“Tommy’s done a great job building this team, and I believe our stuff is just going to keep growing now that we have these parts and pieces set in place. We still have to do our job back at the shop to keep getting better and better, but this gives us the ability to improve and I’m excited for that going into my third full-time season at the Cup level.”

Baldwin also announced that TBR will have a technical alliance and engine partnership with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR) Engines in 2016, adding that the team was currently in the process of rebuilding their entire fleet of race cars ahead of the new year of competition.

The Tommy Baldwin Racing team will kick off the 2016 season on Feb. 14 with Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the 58th running of the Daytona 500.

For more on Tommy Baldwin Racing, follow them on Twitter @TBR_Racing or visit the team’s website at www.tommybaldwinracing.com, and to keep up with the latest on Alex Bowman, follow him on Twitter @AlexBRacing or visit his personal website at www.alexbowmanracing.com.

About the Writer

Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 21-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com

Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77

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