Sandy Real Estate Agent Grant Baker Returns to the Track

For Grant Baker, few thrills compare to sitting behind the wheel of a rumbling race car as it whips around the track at triple-digit speeds. It’s a love he’s nourished since he was a teenager. Now, after a multi-year hiatus, this Sandy real estate agent is getting back on the track this spring.

On April 4, Baker is heading to Portland International Raceway to drive alongside other regional drivers. “It’s like floating. When everything’s going good, you just feel like you’re floating,” says Baker. His excitement for the upcoming track day is palpable.

It should be. Racing has been in Baker’s blood since he was just a teenager. When he was 14, Grant Baker told his parents he wanted to be a race car driver. A lot of adults out there might have smiled and told him that he could be anything he wanted. Baker’s father brought home a “project” car, a beaten-up relic in need of serious work.

“‘Okay,’ he said, ‘Here’s your race car,’” recalls Baker, a Sandy-based real estate agent. “When you get it put together, we’ll get it on the track.”

Baker was instantly hooked. He diligently rebuilt the car, gathering an in-depth understanding of the machinery under the hood as he went. By the time he was able to drive legally, Baker was a fixture at the local speedway. He ended up driving as a semi-professional stock car racer for several years in his teens and early 20s.

Sadly, Baker lost his parents at the age of 21. In the wake of that tragedy, racing took a back seat. Then, when he was 25, Baker explains, “I hung up my helmet from racing. My oldest son was born and I felt that family time was more important.”

Baker made good on that family time, splitting his energy between fatherhood and building a successful real estate agency located in the heart of Sandy – The Baker Agency. As his kids aged and his professional goals became reality, Baker felt pulled back to the track.

Now, after several years, Baker will return to racing with a new car that he’s ready to drive in a bold, new direction: right.

“I’m going road course racing now,” says Baker. “As a stock car racer, we only turned left, like NASCAR. Now, I get to turn right. And that’s the big joke. After 20 years, I finally get to turn right.”

Helping Baker on his quest is his new 2003 Corvette Z06. The track staple is widely considered one of the most capable cars for road race drivers. Baker says his current record speed is 136 miles an hour, but the new Corvette can handle speeds surpassing 178 miles an hour.

“[It might only reach that speed on] an airport runway. And I’m not quite sure how long it takes to get there, but it’s fast. It goes from zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds, and a quarter mile in 12 seconds,” says Baker.

On April 4, Baker will join a pack of drivers for his first competitive track day. That morning, he’ll take a few spins around the track under the supervision of a judge who grades Baker’s performance and certifies him for one of four circuits: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and experienced.

Once he’s assigned a skill level, Baker will get up to hours on the track to practice. Though there won’t be any competition that day, he is still eager to get back behind the wheel. For this driver, nothing really comes close to that rush.

“The excitement of closing a deal, of networking, of growing the Baker Agency, it all gives a little bit of that racing feel. But, no, there’s nothing like being on the track.”