Aaron's 312 - Stanton Barrett Notes

Speed Relativity At Fast Talladega Superspeedway
200 miles per hour doesn’t have to be fast

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Speed is a relative thing, even at the speeds approaching 200 miles per hour NASCAR’s Busch Series teams will see this week at the 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

“190 miles per hour down the backstretch at Talladega when you are out there by yourself is one thing. It doesn’t seem particularly fast,” said Stanton Barrett, driver of the #36 DCT Motorsports Chevrolet. The team 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.

The #36 will have a definitely different look at K.C. Masterpiece – makers of barbecue sauces, marinades, seasoning and dip & top sauces – as well as Piggly Wiggly stores on the car at Talladega.

“Put another 20 cars in a pack with you, and all of the sudden the speed thing is totally different. It doesn’t seem as fast but you know one mistake on anybody’s part is going to collect a lot of cars,” he added.

The relativity of speed comes every week, Barrett said.

“It’s like driving down the interstate and the speed limit is 65. You drive along and, after awhile, you don’t realize how fast you are going unless you look at the speedometer. How many times you looked down and you were going 80, and you had to back off really quick?” he said.

“Same thing. 190 at Talladega is no big deal, but it would be one heck of a deal at, say, Phoenix where we were last week. 100 is fast at Martinsville but barely pace car speed at Talladega,” he added.

The high speeds at Talladega are only an issue in how they affect the cars because of the restrictor plates and how quickly trouble can start.

“Something happening at those kinds of speeds happens pretty fast. Five car lengths in front of you is right at you in the blink of an eye at places like Talladega, Texas, Atlanta,” Barrett said. “It’s a combination of working the draft, working the other cars and keeping an eye out for somebody getting out of shape in front of you.”

Besides being a full-time driver in the NASCAR Busch Series car and in a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series car, Barrett is also an award-winning Hollywood stunt man – and he has jumped from his share of buildings. He doesn’t crash in the upcoming national release of Dukes Of Hazzard, but he does do several jumps and chase scenes with different cars in the movie, including on spectacularly memorable leap with “The General Lee.”

While putting the pieces together for competitive runs, John McGill and Barrett have continued working towards putting together sponsorship for the team, the best organization in the series that remains unsponsored. Besides full-season primary sponsorship, McGill has talked with some potential sponsors about partial-season funding and breaking the season into two, three or four sections for various sponsors.

“Not only will that give corporations a better price break and a lot more cost-efficient program, it enables them to determine exactly which races work better with their marketing programs,” McGill says. “Working with us enables a company to put together the best possible program for that company. That is the way all sponsorship should work.”

Innovative and creative sponsorship programs are just the beginning. McGill noted DCT Motorsports offers companies unique opportunities from a marketing perspective.

“Because of my Hollywood connections, we’re able to tie the movie industry into our corporate sponsorships,” Barrett says. “There isn’t anybody else in NASCAR racing able to do that on a consistent basis.

“Several potential sponsors have shown some interest in what I call ‘stunt seminars,’” he adds. “I can show them how stunts are done in Hollywood, and then show them what makes a car go 200 miles per hour around a race track.

“A lot of teams can give them signage on the rear quarterpanel. But it’s how you get attention for them that counts. Winning races is a great way to do that but jumping an exploding car with a motorcycle tends to do that too.”

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., and is well known not just in Hollywood but also in motorsports.

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, McGill brings creative and fresh approaches not just to team sponsorship itself but areas such as hospitality, cross-promotions and business-to-business possibilities.