Lyle Barnett doesn't care what role he plays behind the wheel of a race car as long as he's got one. Last season, the iconic small-tire, grudge racer who turned big show NHRA superstar is still awaiting a definitive role for 2023.

Barnett drove with Elite Performance and Justin Elks last season, but when the NHRA rules felt out of favor for the turbo combination, it essentially ended the team's bid to compete for a championship.

With Barnett sharp on the tree, the team captured three NHRA event wins, including an NHRA U.S. Nationals victory.

"Right now, with the current rules package and the turbos that they allow, the boost controller that they allow, it's just really hard to win in the NHRA with a twin-turbo combination," Barnett explained. "I think there could be some small changes made that would make that combination much more competitive, but unfortunately for us, we just beat our heads against the wall for long enough, and I decided to take a step back and reevaluate what I was going to do."

It is said that when one door closes, another opens, and for Barnett, it did in the form of a driving opportunity behind the wheel of Marty Robertson's blown Camaro.

Barnett knew going into the deal it was a one-race program and did well by qualifying in the top half of a loaded Pro Modified field at the Snowbird Nationals.

"It was just a one-race deal to kind of see," Barnett said. "I was just really shaking that car down for him. We didn't expect to go there and run that well, and it just worked out for us. I did have plans to continue with Justin Elks, tune that thing with the help of Marty's crew, Mike De Palma and Nick Snyder, and I did have plans to run with them through the World Series of Pro Mod."

If there's one lesson Barnett has learned over his years in racing is to accept those details you have no control over. As it turned out, the car would not be available for the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Modified [WSOPM].

"Obviously, wish nothing but the best for those guys," Barnett said. "I hope that they pick up right where we left off with Marty driving and run well with that. They definitely have a program and a platform that can run up front, and obviously, I wish them nothing but the best."

Out of a ride for the most lucrative Pro Modified race ever held, the WSOPM, Barnett began to accept the fact he might be a spectator, but the key word used in his vocabulary was "might." Ten years ago, Barnett learned a valuable lesson about the value of hope, having returned from burns sustained in an accident while racing. His injuries were so severe he nearly died. The incident only made him stronger and more confident in letting life play out.

"I'll be honest, two weeks ago, I didn't have a ride," Barnett said. I'd had several different cars that had fallen through and it just didn't look good for me. And I called Wes Buck and I'm like, "Wes, man, I don't know if I'm going to be there or not. I just want you to know that I'm working diligently to find a car and my plan is to be there."

Then the phone rang.

On the other end of the line was longtime Pro Modified racer Chip King and Justin Carnack offering Barnett a ride in their second car, a screw supercharged 1971 Ford Mustang Mach One, a potent ride formerly campaigned in Pro Extreme competition by Terry Leggett.

It might be a No. 2 car to King's ride, which qualified No. 1 at the recently completed U.S. Street Nationals, but as far as Barnett is concerned, it can hold its own.

"It's a car that can 110% win that race, and that's exactly what we plan to go do," said Barnett of the car that will be crew chiefed by Carmack and Terry Coyle.

Barnett said he'll ride the train as far as it takes him, and in the meantime, he's content being a test driver for hire. He plans to make himself available for Modern Racing and Elkes whenever needed. One might eventually consider him a shakedown driver to the stars,

"110%, because if that's what you are, then that means that there are enough people out there that trust you to drive a car that you've never driven before and drive it just as they would want it to be raced," Barnett explained. "There seems to be a misconception sometimes that testing is testing and racing is racing, but we test to race. I feel like to me; it's a bit of an honor that there are people out there who trust me enough.

"Hey Lyle, my driver can't be here this week, or "Hey Lyle, I've got the cars available for the World Series of Pro Mod. Why don't you come drive for me?"

"And while I get a lot of the credit, I've been given the opportunity to drive, both from my dad, back in my early days, some really nice stuff, and it's given me the platform to excel forward in my career, and I am 110% okay with being everybody's test dummy. It gives me the opportunity to drive a smorgasbord of cars, if you will, and I love it, man."

If one thing Barnett has learned is the value of being flexible, whether it's climbing out of a leaf spring small tire car to a Radial vs. The World entry, to a No-Time Truck in grudge racing to a turbo Pro Modified. Most recently he earned his license in an injected-nitro Top Alcohol Dragster,

"I think there's some benefit to it," Barnett said. "You don't get comfortable in one seat and I think it makes me a better driver."

After all, just getting to drag race was a bit of a pipe dream.

"Back then, I didn't know that I'd ever have the opportunity to drive a Pro Mod car. It was a dream," Barnett admitted. "And I was just right place, right time when Richard Freeman and Justin Elks gave me the opportunity to get my start in Pro Mod. But even back then, Jason Digby had the Tooth Jerker; it was available, and I didn't really have a whole lot of time to get comfortable. It was, 'Hey man, you're one year out from your near-fatal crash. We got a race in a few weeks and I want you to drive this thing, and we're going to break the Leaf Spring world record."

"I guess, in a way, I made a name for myself to be one of the more feared drivers on the starting line, and that dates way back to just tons and tons and tons of laps in different cars and being able to go up there and just do the job over and over again. I think Erica [Enders] is probably one of the best examples of a machine in the driver's seat, and that's what I strive to be, just a machine. Go up there and do the same thing every single time. No matter the situation, no matter where the sun's at, no matter what camera flash is blinking off on the sideline, you got one job, and that's to rip loose of the button on time and get her to the finish line. And I feel like most of the time I can do that pretty well."

Another valuable lesson Barnett learned early in life is the value of keeping bridges unburned.

"When life gives you lemons, you really got two choices, make lemonade or cry about it," Barnett said. "It just is what it is, man. A couple of weeks ago, I didn't think I had a ride, and while, fortunately for me, most things seem to work out, I knew that at the end of the day, if it just wasn't supposed to happen, it is what it is. So absolutely never burn a bridge. Backtracking one day, you may need to cross it again, and you absolutely don't want to fall into the river if that's the case. I've fortunately been able to piece it together when the odds seem to be stacked against me most times and I'm thankful for that.

"It's pretty easy to get down and think that maybe you're somewhere you can't climb out of, but I use different parts of my story in different points in life to remind myself that there's a tomorrow and light at the end of the tunnel, and it's one foot in front of the other, headed in the right direction."