Earl Paul Barban Jr. (born October 5, 1964) is an American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

spotter and former team owner. He is a five-time Cup Series champion with Jimmie Johnson and has won three Xfinity titles with JR Motorsports' Chase Elliott, William Byron, and

Tyler Reddick Tyler George Reddick (born January 11, 1996) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry for 23XI Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving ...

Early life

Barban grew up in St. Louis and attended Jennings High School in

Jennings, Missouri Jennings is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 12,895. Geography Jennings is located at (38.721100, -90.261428). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area ...

. During his youth, he had numerous jobs beginning with handing out pizza flyers at the age of 13; other occupations included being a cook at

Steak 'n Shake Steak 'n Shake Operations, Inc. (doing business as Steak 'n Shake) is an American casual restaurant chain concentrated primarily in the Midwestern United States with locations also in the South, Mid-Atlantic and Western United States, Europe, ...

, operating a forklift, driving an

airport bus An airport bus, or airport shuttle bus or airport shuttle is a bus used to transport people to and from, or within airports. These vehicles will usually be equipped with larger luggage space, and incorporate special branding. They are also comm ...

, and applying

deodorant A deodorant is a substance applied to the body to prevent or mask body odor due to bacterial breakdown of perspiration or vaginal secretions, for example in the armpits, groin, or feet. A subclass of deodorants, called antiperspirants, prevents s ...

balls for Ban Roll-On. In 2020, he noted that his father "used to make fun of me that I had 21 jobs and 21 cars before I was 21 years old." In 1983, he enlisted in the

United States Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. It is the largest command, by assigned pe ...

, where he served as a truck driver until 1988 and received the Navy Achievement Medal. He is an alumnus of

St. Louis Community College–Florissant Valley St. Louis Community College–Florissant Valley (also known as STLCC-Florissant Valley, Florissant Valley, Flo Valley) is a public community college in Ferguson, in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is one of the four schools of the St. Louis Comm ...

and the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Racing career

Barban began his involvement in motorsports as a mechanic for a friend's

sprint car racing Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...

team, followed by a brief driving stint at Pevely Speedway in St. Louis. He was later hired by Penske Racing, where he worked a variety of roles including souvenir sales and driving the team's hauler. In conjunction with his hauler duties, he was a member of Penske driver Rusty Wallace's pit crew as the gas man. Barban was promoted to jackman and mechanic in 1997, followed by becoming Wallace's spotter in 2002. He served in the role for much of the year outside of the Coca-Cola 600 when he returned to being the jackman. In November, he was involved in a motorcycle accident while riding to

North Carolina Speedway Rockingham Speedway, formerly North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway is a racetrack located near Rockingham, North Carolina. It is also known as The Rock and previously hosted NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, ...

, leading to three broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a ruptured spleen; he returned to his post for preseason testing in January 2003. In 1995, Barban fielded a truck for Rusty's brother Kenny Wallace in the

NASCAR SuperTruck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

, an effort that was supported by Penske. Wallace ran three races for Barban that year in the No. 90 Ford, recording two top-ten finishes and a best run of fourth at Martinsville Speedway, before moving to Penske's own Truck team for 1996. When Wallace retired after the 2005 season, Barban moved to

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 291 Cup Seri ...

' No. 48 team of

Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...

. Barban's first race as Johnson's spotter was the

2006 Daytona 500 The 2006 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. The 48th running of the event, it was held on February 19, 2006, in Daytona Beach, Florida, at Daytona International Speedway before a crowd of 200,000 spe ...

, which he ultimately won. Johnson would win that year's championship, though Barban left the team for

Yates Racing Yates Racing was an American stock car racing team that competed in NASCAR through the 2009 season, after which it merged into Richard Petty Motorsports. Previously known as Robert Yates Racing, the team was owned by Doug Yates, who has offici ...

and

Stevie Reeves Stevie Reeves (born May 16, 1967) is an American professional stock car racing driver and spotter. Driving career After several seasons racing on the bullrings ( short tracks) of Indiana, Reeves traveled nationally with the United States Automob ...

took over as spotter. He returned to the No. 48 team in 2009, and the duo scored four more titles from 2009 to 2010, 2013, and 2016. Barban also works at the

NASCAR Xfinity 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 ...

level for Hendrick affiliate

JR Motorsports JR Motorsports (pronounced "Junior Motorsports") is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, CARS Tour, and occasionally in the NASCAR Advance Auto Par ...

. Overseeing the team's No. 9 car, he won championships in 2014, 2017, and 2018 with Chase Elliott, William Byron, and

. Prior to JRM, he was the spotter for

Rusty Wallace Racing Rusty Wallace Racing, LLC (RWR), formerly known as Rusty Wallace, Inc. (RWI) was a NASCAR racing team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, near Charlotte. Owned by former NASCAR Winston Cup champion and commentator Rusty Wallace, the team compet ...

's No. 64 team in 2006.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barban, Earl Living people 1964 births NASCAR team owners Sportspeople from St. Louis United States Marine Corps reservists University of Missouri alumni