Stanton Barrett is a man of many talents.
From racing stock cars to performing professional stunts across Hollywood’s studios, there isn’t much that Barrett himself hasn’t embraced at one point or another.
But with the NASCAR XFINITY Series set to return to Road America for Saturday afternoon’s Road America 180 fueled by Johnsonville, the Bishop, California native returns to the XFINITY Series scene on the heels of back-to-back top-20 finishes in his most recent races at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course respectively.
And while Barrett is a fan of road racing, it’s the intense layout and length of Road America that Barrett not only finds challenging, but fun too.
This weekend, Barret will drive the No. 99 XCalibur Pit School / B.J. McLeod Motorsports Ford Mustang not only looking for another solid finish this season, but better his previous outings at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn race track.
“Road America is one of my favorite tracks, so I can’t wait to get there this weekend,” said Barrett who will make his fifth start of the season this weekend. “It’s a great town with great fans who really embrace the area when the NASCAR XFINITY Series comes to town. We’ve had a good couple weeks, so I’m hoping that can continue this weekend.”
While most tracks are known for local and national chain of motels and hotels, Road America is known for its scenic routes filled with iconic resorts and scenery. Particularly, Barrett is a fan of the Siebekken Resort and encourages fans to experience its greatness for themselves.
“The Siebekken Resort is one of my favorite destination places while at Road America,” added Barret. “The view is great and the people are wonderful and the accommodations are stellar. It’s where I like to call home for the weekend and I encourage the fans to check it out for themselves.”
Knowing he’ll have plenty of rest in familiar and comfortable territory this weekend, Barrett will make his fifth start at Road America this weekend and looking to better a track best of 17th earned in his track debut in 2010 driving for longtime friend and owner Rick Ware.
It’s because of his friendship with Ware that he met McLeod who helped fuse the partnership together at Mid-Ohio two weeks ago where Barrett shined in torrential rain to earn a strong finish.
Not expecting to be dosed by inclement weather this weekend, Barrett just plans to hone his skills at Road America while being a good teammate to fellow drivers Scott Heckert and McLeod.
“The guys busted their tails for me at Mid-Ohio,” Barrett added. “I wanted to do well and the guys gutted it out through the hard rain to never give up. We came out of there in better shape than when we started the race. With a few races together, they know what I’m looking for and vice-versa, so I think we’ll be in good shape from practice to qualifying and the race. We’ll just hope and do what we know to do.”
McLeod who owns the No. 99 XCalibur Pit School Ford Mustang that Barrett will be driving says having the voice of an experienced road racer like Barrett available will be instrumental to the program overall as they look to strengthen their road racing program.
“Stanton made our team better road racers at Mid-Ohio,” said McLeod. “He knows what he wants and it’s because of that we all succeed. I think he’ll be beneficial to Scott and myself this weekend. Scott has some experience at Road America and I have none, so it will be nice to have Stanton’s ear as I need it. We’re just hoping we have a good run with all the cars on Saturday afternoon.”
Joining XCalibur Pit School as marketing partners this weekend at Road America, Lilly Trucking will serve as an associate marketing partner for the third and final road course of the year.
In 25 years of XFINITY Series competition, Barrett has 202 starts to his credit with a career-best finish of fifth at Atlanta Motor Speedway driving for car owners Kenneth and Dan Shaver. He has four starts at Road America (Wisc.) in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively all for Rick Ware Racing.
BJ McLeod Motorsports PR
- Erik Jones to Miss Race at Dover; Corey Heim to Drive No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota XSE - April 23, 2024
- Flowdynamics Driver Logan Williams Enjoying His Best Season Start With USAC/CRA - April 23, 2024
- Ford Performance – 2024 Dover Advance - April 23, 2024