Carquest Auto Parts 300 - Stanton Barrett Notes

Barrett, DCT Motorsports Feeling Momentum
Hoping to carry stronger runs over to Lowe’s

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – DCT Motorsports and driver Stanton Barrett are seeing some momentum beginning to build, and they hope to carry that even further in Saturday night’s 300-mile NASCAR Busch Series race at the 1.5-mile Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Barrett ranks 19th in the national standings (John McGill is 22nd in the car owners’ standings) with 1057 points but over the past four races, the team has steadily moved forward in the rankings. In fact, Barrett’s average points over the last four races would have him ranked ninth in the national standings over the course of the season. And in two of the last five races, crashes caused by others caught the #36 Chevrolet.

“We’re not where we want to be but we’re headed in a good direction,” said Barrett. “We have plenty of work to do, and we all know that. But it’s a nice feeling knowing the work we have done so far is starting to pay off.”

The team was first noticed with Barrett’s strong run on the road course at Mexico City, where he was at the front of the field most of the last part of the race before being tagged by a car behind him. His three top-19 finishes in the last four races have helped the team tremendously, giving them solid runs and lead-lap finishes, a string broken only when he was caught up in a large crash immediately in front of him at Talladega.

“Points racing has become a bigger thing all of the way through the field with the rules changes this year,” Barrett said. “It’s not just for the top two or three cars running for the championship. The way the rules changed for qualifying (locking in the top 30 in the car owners’ standings in each race), you have to be in the top 30 of the points. You know that every week, so every point is important.

“You see guys staying out under caution to lead a lap, guys back 25th in the standings or whatever, just to get those five bonus points,” he pointed out. “But you see guys running hard to pick up a position running for 15th place in a race too, which is good for the racing and good for the fans. Points have just taken on a whole new dimension. They have always been important but they are more important to more people than ever.”

With a longer Busch race coming up this week – 300 miles on the 1.5-mile Lowe’s Motor Speedway oval – points could become even bigger.

“A longer race gives more time for things to happen to you. It takes a bigger toll on your car and on your engine,” Barrett said. “A good finish at Lowe’s is great, but it can be an even bigger deal because so many cars tend to run into problems. This could be a big points night for somebody . . . or could be a really dark night points-wise for somebody.”

Besides being one of the top younger drivers in the Busch Series, the 32-year-old Barrett is well known in other areas. An award-winning stunt man from Hollywood, Barrett has appeared in well over 100 movies – including the soon-to-be-released Dukes Of Hazzard, Spiderman II and others – as well as hundreds of television shows and commercials. Barrett, who is also running some NASCAR Nextel Cup Series events again this season, has been driving since he was 16 years old, and has competed on the highest levels of NASCAR racing. He is a native of Bishop, Calif.

DCT Motorsports is owned by Nancy and John McGill, the only Cleveland, Ohio, residents to have owned a team full time in any of NASCAR’s top three series. McGill has developed sponsorship packages that could incorporate the full remainder of the season or blocks of races. Utilizing his own business and marketing acumen, he brings creative and fresh approaches not just to team sponsorship itself but areas such as hospitality, cross-promotions and business-to-business possibilities.