T.J. Bell will drive the #36 DCT Motorsports Chevy beginning with the NASCAR Busch Series race at California Speedway and finishing out the season. Bell, who turns 25 years old this week, joins the team from a highly-successful two-year stint in the ARCA series. “T.J. has a tremendous amount of talent and has shown his capabilities on all kinds of speedways,” said John McGill, the Cleveland, Ohio, native who owns DCT Motorsports with his wife, Nancy. Bell, a native of Spark, Nev., has 32 ARCA starts with 11 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes. The 2004 Rookie of the Year, he finished third in the standings. He also has 13 career starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Stanton Barrett, who will drive the #36 Darden Company-sponsored Chevy at Bristol, Tenn., Friday, is 20th in the NASCAR Busch Series standings, and has recorded eight top-20 finishes in his 25 starts this season for DCT Motorsports. While running towards the front in many races, most notably are incredibly strong runs at Mexico City, Phoenix and Loudon earlier this season, Barrett and the DCT team have fought through some bad luck and problems not of their own making, and have struggled with securing full-time sponsorship. “DCT has given me a tremendous opportunity to compete this season,” Barrett said. “Additionally, I have worked extremely hard to secure future sponsorships and have not been able to at this point. The McGills and DCT as a whole is more than a team to me – they are friends and this is something they talked with me about. As everyone knows, sponsorship is the key to the future of a race team and I was unable to provide one at this point. T.J. has been able to bring such funding to the team and I’m sure the team will still have much success on the track. It is unfortunate for me, but there are opportunities out there and I will keep working hard on my racing career and I still get to make my favorite track (Bristol) my last with DCT. The McGill’s still are working hard on our sponsorships for next season that has my name attached if they come to fruition,” Barrett added.(Williams Company)(8-25-2005)
