Stanton Barrett outran 26 other professional drivers on June 21 when he finished 17th in last week's Nationwide NASCAR Series race at the Milwaukee Mile. Stanton even led the race for one lap! In this high-speed sport, every finish in the top 10 is a great achievement, and every finish in the top 20 is considered a race well run.

While coming in 17th wasn't quite the finish that he had hoped for, there was great satisfaction in beating 26 competitors, most of whom who have much greater funding and technical assistance from much better funded teams. And Barrett did it with a small core of dedicated employees who work out of one of the smaller shops in NASCAR racing. His facility in Mooresville, N. C., covers less than 5,000 square feet with eight employees, far fewer than most of his competitors. So when he does outrun the bigger outfits, it's something to celebrate.

"It's good to beat teams with so many financial and testing resources," he said. "We've been racing for 18 years. We take a lot of pride in the work we put in and in working with my guys to put a car on the track that's competitive."

More times than not, Barrett's finishes are very respectable given his circumstances. In the Nationwide Series, he has made 158 starts since 1992, with one top-five and seven top-10 finishes. This year, he has run 11 of the 17 races with a best finish of 11th at Las Vegas in March. But Barrett is bred to want to do better. His father is the famed stunt man Stan Barrett, and his mother is world-class skier Penny McCoy.

The same is true for his new crew chief, Ricky Pearson, the son of legendary NASCAR driver David Pearson. The two worked together before and now that they're back together, they're doing more of the car preparation in-house. Barrett said his relationship with Pearson helps make the team click.

Barrett’s next two races are in New Hampshire on June 28 and then the world renowned Daytona International Speedway on America’s birthday July 4th!

The following week, on Friday July 11, he races for the Interush Racing Team at the Chicago Speedway in Illinois.