It’s No IROC, but He Has No Complaints : Auto racing: Baldwin begins defense of Trans-Am series championship today at Long Beach.

Jack Baldwin has won four national championships in a variety of race cars, and more individual races than he can remember, but the greatest thrill of his 30-year career as a driver came during a race in which he finished last.

“Oh, man, that’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Baldwin said of his first appearance in the International Race of Champions last February at Daytona International Speedway. “It was such an honor just for me to be able to race with all those guys . . . Bill Elliott, Davey Allison, Ricky Rudd, the Unsers. Wow.”

Baldwin, 44, of Marietta, Ga., earned his spot in IROC by winning the Sports Car Club of America’s Trans-Am series last year, driving a Chevrolet Camaro to victory over teammate Scott Sharp, 24, of East Norwalk, Conn.

He will open defense of that championship today in a one-hour Trans-Am race that highlights the second day of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend. The race, one of 15 this season, will be over the 1.59-mile street circuit laid out along Shoreline Drive, overlooking the Queen Mary.

“I think racing against those guys at Daytona, and later at Darlington, will help me in my racing, even though both of them were on ovals and all we run are road races,” Baldwin said. “I know I suffered from inexperience, not having ever been on an oval, but the thrill of racing on those tracks exceeded the frustration of not finishing well.

“And even though I ended up 11th at Daytona, I drove right up front at the start and feel I could have actually passed Little Al (Unser Jr.) if I hadn’t thought, ‘Maybe this is where I should be cool,’ and backed out of it (the throttle). I didn’t have the experience to know what was going to happen to me in the next five laps.”

Baldwin started ninth and quickly moved up to second before dropping back when the stock car veterans drafted past him.

“When I found I couldn’t run in the draft, I knew I was in trouble,” he said. “The car was too tight, and when I came to the corners I had to lift. Against those guys, if you lift, they just go right on by.”

At Darlington, which Baldwin called “the second-most thrilling race of my career,” he got as high as third before spinning after tangling with Rudd. The spin dropped him to the rear of the 12-car field, but he moved up to finish eighth.

“I drove a better race than showed in the standings,” he said. “It took me a couple of laps to get myself calmed down. For an old Georgia boy, you can’t imagine what it meant to me to look down and see Cale Yarborough standing there as the grand marshal, and seeing Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace pulling on their helmets to run in the same race I was in.”

Earnhardt and Wallace, both former Winston Cup champions, were substitute drivers for the injured Al Unser Jr. and Arie Luyendyk at Darlington. Yarborough was a three-time champion and one of Baldwin’s idols as a youth.

Baldwin, who earlier in his career won the national Formula Ford championship in 1972 and the International Motor Sports Assn. GTU titles in 1984 and 1985 driving a Mazda RX-7 for car owner Ira Young, foresees another tense battle for the Trans-Am title.

Trans-Am cars are production sports cars such as Camaros, Dodge Daytonas and Ford Mustangs that weigh about 2,500 pounds and have between 500 and 625 horsepower.

“We want to be the first to successfully defend the championship since Wally Dallenbach Jr. did it in 1985 and 1986,” he said. “My goal at Long Beach is to win, but if I can’t do that, I want to finish in the top five.”

Baldwin’s worst Trans-Am finish last year was a seventh at Long Beach.

“Long Beach is not my favorite circuit, I don’t like street courses, but it’s a great place to start the season. You can’t beat the glitz and glamour down there by the ocean.

“Speed wins races, but consistency wins championships. That’s how I did it last year. My car was not always the fastest, but I finished consistently in the top five.”

Baldwin won races at Trois-Rivieres, Canada, and Watkins Glen, N.Y., but his most remarkable feat was becoming the first driver in the 25 years of Trans-Am competition to finish every lap (503) of every race.

Win or lose today, Baldwin has another date with IROC on May 1 at Talladega, Ala.

“I’m not sure any of the other drivers (in IROC) will enjoy it as much as I will,” he said.

No matter where he finishes.