LYLE BARNETT'S UPWARD TRAJECTORY LEADS HIM INTO PRO MODIFIED

by Bobby Bennett    Thu, 2020-12-03 21:25

 

When a tragic incident affects a person, they have one or two ways to approach life afterward; keep moving forward to bigger and better things or wallow in self-pity, choosing to allow the adversity to define them.

Lyle Barnett chose the former.

Barnett, the talented drag radial racer from Mooresville, North Carolina, on September 24, 2015, was racing in the Radial vs. The World Division at No Mercy 6 when an injector failure led to a fiery engine explosion that trapped him inside his Chevrolet Corvette.

Barnett escaped with third-degree burns to 15-percent of his body, and for a moment amid the hell of the tragedy, he thought he was going to die.

Barnett modestly accepts the notion he's the Poster Boy for the phrase, "when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade."

"I think it's fair to say, we make Mike's Hard Lemonade out of it," Barnett said. "It's a little bit stronger than regular old lemonade. It's got a fricking punch to it. There's a couple of ways that you can come out of a life-altering situation, either a life-altering injury or a life-altering event  You can sit back behind closed doors and hide, or you can embrace it, use it as a platform, and take off. And they say you shouldn't let something like this define you, but in reality, it kind of does define you. "It is who I am, and instead of trying to hide it, I'm very open about it, and I feel like that was part of God's plan for me, was to use my story and help others who may view some of their life-altering events or injuries or situations or whatever as insurmountable Fricking swing a big stick and get out there and just get it done."

Barnett, late last week, realized another dream when he was named a Pro Modified driver on the Elite Performance NHRA Pro Modified team.

"I don't know that you could put into words how much of a dream come true this is," Barnett said. "It's something that I've dreamed of my entire life but never really thought would become a reality. Just kind of one of those deals where you're like, 'Man, that would be just one of the coolest things ever.'

"I never really thought that it was a true possibility, so just never really worried about it and just always thought, "Man, that would just be so awesome."

And as Barnett puts it, "But fricking here we are."

 

 

Barnett was in Ft. Worth, Texas, doing various media duties with Drag Illustrated magazine and a video with Kingsridge Media, and effectively playing the role of a superstar.

"It still hasn't quite hit me yet," Barnett admitted. "We're doing all this stuff, and I'm in and out of the shop with the Pro Mod. I've got a flight at 6:30 in the morning to get me back into Mooresville in time to get a seat poured for the Pro Modified tomorrow. And then we finished assembling the car this week, and we test next week. I think then maybe it'll kind of feel real but, it's like I'm on a high.

"If I had it to do all over again, what I went through to end up where I am now?" Barnett pondered. "Fricking probably. I mean, it's been unbelievable. It's 100% the good Lord's workings and then the racing community that has stood behind me and supported me from September the 24th of 2015 to now.

"I had a career that was excelling at a pretty rapid rate prior to the wreck. Obviously, everything paused and we took a step back, but since then, man, it's been on just a steady climb."

Barnett will climb behind the wheel of a centrifugal-supercharged Camaro, powered by Hemi-based engines tuned by Justin Elkes from Modern Racing. This Rick Jones-built entry is the same car previously campaigned by Steve Matusek and Alex Laughlin.

Barnett credits a multitude of people for the incredible pathway he's on, and while he's not going to start naming names for fear he'll miss one by accident, he's not about to forget his father, Mark.

"I'm just really grateful for each and every person that stood behind me," Barnett said.

Barnett understands he's in a once-in-a-lifetime moment joining the Elite Performance team where he will be teammates with Erica Enders, Alex Laughlin, Aaron Stanfield, and Troy Coughin Jr.

"I was 24 years old [when I got hurt], and hopefully, I have only lived a quarter of my life," Barnett said. "I fee I have just so much more life to live and we've managed to turn that into something super positive and a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. Man, I just can't believe it."

 

 

 
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