Barrett Drops Mel Gibson For IWX Motorsports

MOORESVILLE, N.C. - After spending the past several weeks fist-fighting with actor Mel Gibson, Stanton Barrett returns to NASCAR Busch Grand National racing to finish out the season with Xpress Motorsports. Barrett will drive the IWX Motor Freight Pontiac for the final three races of the season, including Sunday's 250-lapper at the .750-mile Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park.

Barrett, 26, has driven in NASCAR's Winston Cup and Busch Grand National series this season with some success. He was the fastest second-round qualifier in Junie Donlavey's car for the Winston Cup race at Pocono, Pa., and was one of the series' top point-earners when behind the wheel of the Channellock Chevrolet this spring in NASCAR's Busch series.

"I'm excited about being in a race car again, especially one like this IWX Motor Freight team has," said Barrett, who is finishing up several weeks work acting in the feature film "The Patriot" with Academy Award-winning actor Mel Gibson.

"Acting and stunt work is great, and I enjoy it. But driving race cars is all I've wanted to do my whole life, and everything I've done has been to put myself in a position to race," Barrett continued. "This will be a great way to finish off the season."

Xpress Motorsports, which fields the IWX Motor Freight Pontiac, is owned by Stephen J. Coulter, and the team is led by veteran crew chief and mechanic Dave Fuge. Barrett is quite the driving veteran himself, even with his comparably younger age. The Barrett family in Hollywood is not unlike the Petty family in stock car racing, and is considered the family of stunt work. Stanton Barrett has appeared in such films as Batman, Last of the Mohicans and Free Jack.

Barrett and Xpress Motorsports are considering the possibilities of continuing their relationship into next season, and are looking for sponsorship opportunities. While both the driver and the race team are looking at remaining together for next season, each is also looking at other possibilities from a sponsorship standpoint.

"We feel pretty good together and we feel like we can do some pretty great things together," Barrett said. "I'm still talking with sponsors and Xpress Motorsports is still talking with sponsors. We hope we can do something together but even if we end up doing something separately, we're going to give these last three races the very best ride we can."