Stan Barrett (born June 26, 1943) is an American

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

stunt coordinator A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company for casting stunt performers. Their job is to arrange the casting (stunt players and stunt doubles) and performance of s ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, and former

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

driver. His biggest act was however outside the movie world. On December 17, 1979, he attempted to break the

land speed record The land speed record (LSR) or absolute land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. By a 1964 agreement between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de M ...

, and the

sound barrier The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, th ...

in the Budweiser Rocket rocket-powered three-wheel vehicle. His calculated speed was 739.666 miles per hour, (Mach 1.01), which would have made Barrett the first man to break the

in a land vehicle. The attempt was surrounded by controversy and the speed was never officially recorded. Barrett also raced in 19

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and fro ...

races between 1980 and 1990, posting two top ten finishes.

Land speed record

In an effort led by

Hal Needham Hal Brett Needham (March 6, 1931 – October 25, 2013) was an American Stunt performer, stuntman, film director, actor, writer, and NASCAR team owner. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with actor Burt Reynolds, usually in film ...

, another

, and sponsored by

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...

, the Budweiser Rocket was built with the intention of being the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier. The 3-wheeler was powered by a hybrid liquid and solid-fuel

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

engine. The solid fuel booster engine came from a Sidewinder missile. At

Rogers Dry Lake Rogers Dry Lake is an endorheic desert salt pan in the Mojave Desert of Kern County, California. The lake derives its name from the Anglicization from the Spanish name, Rodriguez Dry Lake. It is the central part of Edwards Air Force Base as its ...

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...

, the vehicle, driven by Barrett, made on December 17, 1979, an attempt to break the

. The claimed speed of 739.666 mph, equalling

Mach The Mach number (M or Ma), often only Mach, (; ) is a dimensionless quantity in fluid dynamics representing the ratio of flow velocity past a Boundary (thermodynamic), boundary to the local speed of sound. It is named after the Austrian physi ...

1.01, was never officially recorded.

NASCAR

The publicity gained from the attempt took Barrett to

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

. Between his movie commitments, Barrett found time to race in 19

races during the 1980s. Barrett posted two top ten finishes, running his last race in 1990. In 1999, Barrett was scheduled to run three

Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

races for PBH Motorsports, who had planned to field a Cup team for his son Stanton Barrett. Stan was scheduled to run at

Heartland Park Topeka Heartland Motorsports Park, formerly known as Heartland Park Topeka, was a multi-purpose motorsports facility south of downtown Topeka, Kansas near the Topeka Regional Airport. It operated from 1989 until its closure in 2023. History When it o ...

Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track in the Northeastern United States, northeastern United States, located in Dix, New York, just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, Watkins Glen, at the ...

and Sears Point Raceway. In 2008, at age 65, he made a surprising return to stock car racing. His son Stanton, running Chevrolets in the second tier

Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

, invited Stan to run beside him in the SBM Motorsports team. After an abortive attempt at Mexico City, Stan later qualified for the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and WGI races. He was forced to retire in both races.

Stuntman career

He has worked as a stuntman since the 1960s in motion pictures and television series. He has been stunt doubling and stunt coordinating for many of Hollywood actors in films such as '' When Time Ran Out...'' and ''

Smokey and the Bandit ''Smokey and the Bandit'' is a 1977 American action comedy road film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams, and Mike Henry. The film marks the directorial debut of stuntman Hal Needham ...

''. He also appeared in the 1980 TV movie '' Stunts Unlimited'' about

stunt performers A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs stunt, daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as op ...

Family

His son David Barrett is a prolific Hollywood director and stunt coordinator/director. Son Stanton Barrett is also a

stuntman, and also a racing driver. David and Stanton are the godsons of

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...

, and grandsons of Dave and Roma McCoy, the founders of

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is a ski resort in eastern California, located on the east side of the Sierra Nevada, Sierra Nevada mountain range within the Inyo National Forest. The resort is located in the town of Mammoth Lakes, California. The res ...

. Melissa Barrett Thorner is Stan's daughter.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

=Daytona 500

Nationwide Series

Television

References

External links

* *

Stanton Barrett Hires His Dad Stan Barrett to Drive This Weekend

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Stan 1943 births American stunt performers Land speed record people Living people NASCAR drivers Hendrick Motorsports drivers