Barrett’s In Search of the Record Books
April 19, 2008 by Tim Zaegel
Filed under Racing
Earlier this week, Stanton Barrett – driver of the no. 30 SBA Racing Chevrolet, and owner of SBA Racing itself – called up his father, Stan Barrett, and asked him to drive the no. 31 car in the upcoming Corona Mexico 200 in the Nationwide Series. Stan has competed in 19 races in the [then] Winston Cup Series, but hasn’t driven in one of NASCAR’s top series since 1990. Furthermore, if the 64-year-old were to qualify for the event, this would mark the first occasion in NASCAR’s illustrious history that a father drove a car in the race for a team owned by his son.
Stan’s NASCAR career came to an end at Infineon back in 1990 when he finished 17th after getting caught up in a wreck between Ernie Irvin and Sterling Marlin. Stan was headed for a third place finish in that race, which would have qualified as his best Cup Series finish. Alas, following the race, Stan was left with an ill taste in his mouth and withdrew his name from the remaining events on the calendar.
Since then (and prior to, actually), Stan has worked primarily as a stuntman and was even the inspiration of the character “Ski Chinski” in the 1978 flick, “Hooper.” He also keeps in racing shape by competing in Go-Karts and Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) races.
Stan was 42nd fastest in the first practice session, and Stanton practiced the car in the second session. It’s still undetermined if Stan will attempt to qualify the car himself.
In Other News:
- Professional tennis star, Andy Roddick, was recently overly critical about NASCAR due to the fact that NASCAR is viewed by more fans across America than his own sport. In his comments, he eluded to the fact that he doesn’t see the spectator appeal in watching guys turn left for four hours.
- The Midwest region (primarily Illinois) was recently hit with an earthquake that registered a 5.2 magnitude on the Richter scale. Located nearby in Madison, IL (just outside of St. Louis) is Gateway International Raceway, where NASCAR holds an annual Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series event. Fortunately, the track was reported to have suffered zero damage from the quakes, and all racing will resume as planned. The next NASCAR event held here will be the Nationwide Series’ Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 held on July 19th.
