- Craig Lutz held off Luke Baldwin by 0.387 seconds to win Sunday’s FaithFest Evangelistic Ministries 150 at North Wilkesboro Speedway
- Baldwin nudged Lutz and passed him for the lead with nine laps to go, but Lutz returned the favor three laps later and pulled away for his fifth career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory
- Tickets and camping packages for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race are on sale at northwilkesborospeedway.com
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. (May 18, 2025) – Craig Lutz went for the elevator ride of a lifetime on Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Lutz held off a hard-charging Luke Baldwin in a hotly contested 10-lap dash to the finish of the FaithFest Evangelistic Ministries 150, scoring his first trip to North Wilkesboro’s iconic, second-story Victory Lane.
After the race’s final restart with 10 laps to go, Baldwin gave Lutz a tap in the rear bumper and briefly took the lead, but Lutz returned the favor three laps later, muscling his way back to the front and pulling away to win his fifth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event.
Justin Bonsignore, Jacob Lutz and Austin Beers rounded out the top five.
Starting 17th in the 31-car field, Lutz had to dodge more than his fair share of carnage, as aggressive maneuvers from drivers itching for North Wilkesboro glory led to 10 caution periods over 150 laps. Accidents also removed favorites including Ryan Newman, points leader Patrick Emerling and Corey LaJoie – who’ll compete in Sunday’s All-Star Open – from contention.
Whenever the drama didn’t unfold behind Lutz, he found a way to get through it. Not even a nudge from Baldwin over the final few laps shook the eventual winner’s resolve.
“It’s been so long since we’ve won and you never know when the next one is, because there’s so many good cars in this series,” said Lutz. “(The battle with Baldwin) was wild. You feel like you never get a good enough jump on a restart and Luke did a hell of a job. He’s going to be a great race car driver.
“We had just enough to keep him behind us at the end. If you asked me which race on the schedule was the biggest one to win, I’d tell you this one, for sure.”
The action continues Sunday at North Wilkesboro with the NASCAR All-Star Open, bringing the top two finishers and the Fan Vote Winner into a no-holds-barred, $1 million fight for short-track supremacy among racing’s biggest names in the NASCAR All-Star Race.
TICKETS:
A limited number of NASCAR All-Star Race tickets and camping packages can be purchased online at www.NorthWilkesboroSpeedway.com.
MORE INFO:
Fans can connect with North Wilkesboro Speedway and get the latest news regarding NASCAR All-Star Week and North Wilkesboro Speedway by following on X and Instagram or by becoming a Facebook fan.
