The Hollywood stuntman with more than 200 movies and TV series to his credit, and probably just as many broken bones, torn muscles and assorted injuries, is trying to prove himself on auto racing’s biggest stage as a rookie at the Indianapolis 500.
“I’ve never experienced something like this,” Barrett said Tuesday at the start of the two-day Indy rookie tests. “I’ve been here in a stock car and I’ve had the opportunity to run the three IndyCar races and I have a lot better grasp what to expect about the cars, but you have to approach it like any other race: You make laps and get your seat time and you have your process of learning and building up to the point that you need to be.”
Stanton Barrett also competes in extreme skiing, motorcycling, paragliding and surfing. He began racing in the NASCAR Nationwide series in 1992 and has driven in almost 200 races in that series and in NASCAR’s elite Sprint Cup series. He joined the CURB/Agajanian/Team 3G in the IndyCar series this season, with a best finish so far of 12th in the season opener at St. Petersburg, Fla.
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“It’s only scary driving a race car when they don’t work and you have your hands full and you’re on the edge all the time,” he said. “I’d have to say the stunt stuff is by far more scary when it comes to most of the things we do. But you have to respect both of them. They’re both very, very worthy of respect and will definitely bite you if you don’t.”
This year, he’s co-owner of a new team with veteran car owner Greg Beck and longtime motorsports marketer Steve Sudler. Full practice for the May 24 race begins Wednesday.
“Right now we’re kind of under the gun,” he said. “A lot of our stuff hasn’t come together this week like it was supposed to, and we’re still waiting on getting some money so we can get on the track. We’ve got to get through rookie orientation or we can’t run the rest of May. … So that’s our No.1 goal. No.2 is to qualify for the Indy 500.”
“I enjoy doing both,” he said. “Film has provided me the opportunity to be able to keep racing. Right now I’m doing very few films, just a handful a year because of my schedule, but it’s something I love to do. … It’s something I’m passionate about, and the same with auto racing. I don’t plan on ever getting out of it, from driving to being a team owner and helping other people live their driving dreams as well.”
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