Stanton Barrett: Mourning Mentor Paul Newman; Making His Move To Indy Racing

This week has been a series of highs and lows for California extreme sports enthusiast Stanton Barrett.  His high came when he announced his move to the Indy Car series in 2009.  But his exciting announcement was overshadowed by one of the lowest moments in his life, the loss of his mentor and godfather Paul Newman.

Barrett is one of the most multi-talented sports enthusiasts ever. He was born on

December 1, 1972 in Bishop, California.  His immediate family and heredity has played a mighty role in his sports interests and developing expertise. 

Stanton’s grandfather, Dave McCoy, was an avid skier and coached the US Olympic Team.  His mother, Penny, was also a champion skier, and a member of the US Olympic Team. 

Father Stan was a stunt man in Hollywood, and also a race car driver.  He was the first person to beat the speed of sound in a car.  He raced in the then Winston Cup series for ten years, from 1980 to 1990.  Stan Barrett was also good friends with Paul Newman, who encouraged his racing career and Hollywood endeavors.

With this genetic background, it was only a matter of time before young Stanton Barrett became involved in athletics.  He began go kart racing as a boy, winning 21 of the 28 races in which he was entered.

Barrett then moved on to make his NASCAR racing debut in 1992 in the then Busch series (now Nationwide series).  For his very first race, he started on the outside pole.

But the years after that brilliant start have not been so kind to Barrett.  He has moved from team to team and struggled to retain critical sponsorship dollars.  Barrett bounced from the Nationwide to the Cup series, trying to find that one ride that would get him into the show on a full-time basis.

In 2005, Stanton attempted to run another part-time Cup schedule under the banner of Front Row Motorsports.  When that endeavor failed, he reconstituted the team under his own name, Stanton Barrett Motorsports.

From 2006 to 2007, Barrett continued to struggle, trying to make races and find sponsorship dollars.  This year, he decided to run a limited schedule of four races for his own team in the Nationwide series.

After fifteen years of chasing the NASCAR racing dream, Stanton Barrett recently announced that he would be making a major move to the Indy series in 2009.  While he will continue to run a very limited NASCAR schedule, he has hooked up with Greg Beck and Steve Sadler and will focus on driving the number 90 Curb/Agajanian, backed by Dallara-Honda, in 2009.

While thrilled about his new racing opportunity, Barrett continues to experiment in other areas of extreme sports.  He is an avid snowmobile and motocross racer.  Stanton is also passionate about extreme skiing.

While most drivers focus solely on racing, Stanton Barrett has followed in his father’s footsteps as well, becoming an expert stunt man himself.  He has done stunts in over 150 movies and has doubled for many Hollywood actors.  Some of his better known film credits include The Dukes of Hazard, Spider-Man, Jurassic Park, Rat Race, Batman, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

This Hollywood connection is no doubt how Barrett met his father’s friend, Paul Newman, who became such a special part of his life, acting as godparent.  Newman most certainly was a prime role model for Stanton’s career, including movies, racing and other sports.

But there was another significant way in which the legendary Paul Newman influenced Stanton Barrett and that was in the area of philanthropy.  In his lifetime, Newman established his own business, donating millions of profits to charity.

Stanton Barrett has followed closely in Newman’s charitable footsteps, forming the nonprofit 4Caring.org.  The mission of the charity is threefold; the first being to fund programs that comfort people in crisis, like children waiting in ICU or critical care rooms. 

The second aspect of the charity is to raise money to support bobsledding teams that are having difficulty raising funds to compete. 

The third area of support of the 4Caring.org charity is to provide hunting and fishing opportunities for handicapped children.  This multi-dimensional approach to helping others is simply a reflection of the many and varied aspects and interests of Barrett’s own life.

This week, Stanton Barrett must certainly have been celebrating his newest venture into Indy car racing.  But that celebration must have been short-lived, with the shattering news of Paul Newman’s passing.

Just as Paul Newman impacted so many, so too will Stanton Barrett, in the next chapter of his life.  Stanton certainly has big shoes to fill.  But whether he is racing cars or raising money to help others, Barrett will no doubt do his godfather Newman proud.