Stanton Barrett hires his dad, Stan Barrett, to drive this weekend
By Rea White - Associate Editor
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
In an apparently unprecedented move, Stanton Barrett has hired his 65-year-old father, Stan Barrett, to drive the SBM Motorsports No. 31 in this weekend’s Nationwide Series event in Mexico City.
Stan Barrett, a former driver and Hollywood stuntman, will attempt to make the field for Sunday’s Corono Mexico 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. The first man to break the speed of sound on the ground in 1979, will pilot the Stanton Barrett Motorsports No. 31 Chevrolet while his son, Stanton, will drive the team’s No. 30 entry.
“I am excited to have my dad race in a competitive car, and I expect him to do well. He hasn’t missed a step with anything else he does, and he is an amazing athlete,” Stanton Barrett said. “It’s great to have such support from your sponsors to field a car with your dad. It reminds me of all the fun times working together on movie sets.”
Stan Barrett started as a stuntman doubling for stars such Paul Newman (who is also Stanton’s godfather) as well as the likes of Burt Reynolds and Steve McQueen. Stan credits fellow stuntman Hal Needham with most of his film credits and success. Stanton has followed his dad’s footsteps, but has gone a little further. In 1992, Stanton became founder and owner of the SBM race team that has given his dad a chance to go racing again.
“Funny how the tables are turned sometimes,” Stan Barrett said.
On Dec. 17, 1979, Stan Barrett became the first man to break the speed of sound in a land vehicle called the Budweiser Rocket. With its 60,000 HRP rocket motor and 20,000 HRP side-winder missile-booster, the vehicle was propelled to a speed of 739 mph in just 16.8 seconds on the space shuttle runway at Edwards AFB in California. This vehicle, which was owned and financed by Hal Needham, now rests in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., with replicas in the Speed Museum at Talladega and with Richard Childress Racing in North Carolina.
Stan Barrett’s last road-course race was in 1990, driving a Hendrick Motorsports-owned car at Sears Point.
Interush, a US-based Internet technology and marketing company with a large customer base in Japan and Taiwan, and GrandStay Hospitality, a group that specializes in corporate, leisure and extended-stay accommodations, are primary sponsors for Stan Barrett’s entry and associates, with primary sponsor Caring.org, on Stanton Barrett’s car.
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