GLADEVILLE, Tenn. -- Until driving at 130 mph on oval tracks pays Stanton Barrett Jr. the big bucks, he'll keep hanging out with fire-throwing Green Goblins and hungry prehistoric monsters.

The 29-year-old co-owner of his Red Racing team and a professional movie stunt man started and finished his first Busch series race this season at the Nashville Superspeedway this month.

Barrett splits his time between North Carolina with his team and in Los Angeles with his real job -- working on Hollywood movie sets.

"That's really my only means of making money,'' he said. "If I didn't have the opportunity to car race or it doesn't work out, it's a great career.''

Barrett won a World Stunt Award this year for his underwater work in "Jurassic Park III'' and was a stunt double for James Franco, the Green Goblin's son, in "Spider-Man.''

Barrett was surrounded by fire in the scene when the Green Goblin bombs a balcony, threatening the lives of characters Harry Osborn (Franco) and girl-next-door Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst).

"They cut a lot of it out, but he goes after her and tries to grab her,'' Barrett said in his laid-back, California way. "Then there's another big explosion. I burned my eyes, eyelashes and hair.''

His movies include "Murder by Numbers,'' "Blade,'' "The Patriot'' and "Batman,'' and he has been in TV shows such as "Baywatch'' and "Beverly Hills 90210.''

The combination of races and stunts is nothing new to the Barrett family.

His father, Stan Barrett, got into racing after doing stunts in the 1977 good ol' boys car-chasing hit "Smokey and the Bandit,'' directed by Hal Needham and starring Burt Reynolds.

Then, Needham hired Barrett to drive his rocket car built to break the sound barrier, and Barrett made history in 1979 at 739.666 mph.

Needham and Reynolds later hired Barrett to drive their Skoal Bandit stock car, which also was driven by Harry Gant.

Stan Barrett continues to work in stunts and has coordinated some of the stunts performed by his son in movies and TV shows.

The younger Barrett got the itch for both at a very young age when he tagged along with his father to work in Los Angeles. He enjoyed the car rides and was interested in the movie sets.

When Stan Barrett was working on "Airport '77,'' 5-year-old Barrett saw workers building the "Jaws'' set at Universal Studios and asked his dad what they were doing.

"'Some shark movie' was all he said,'' Barrett recalled, laughing.

Despite Stanton Barrett's upbringing, his father didn't envision his son following the same career path.

"The last thing I thought he'd be was a stuntman or race car driver,'' the elder Barrett said. "I thought he was going to be a rocket scientist. He was so inquisitive and so smart about figuring things out. When I got him in a go-kart, I said, 'Uh-oh, I've created a monster.'''

Having actor and race car driver Paul Newman as a godfather and Reynolds as a family friend didn't hurt.

"I guess it was pretty interesting,'' Barrett said. "When you grow up around it, you don't think about it too much.''

Barrett's mother, Penny McCoy, added more to his thrill-seeking lifestyle. She was a champion skier, and Barrett does skiing stunts as well as horseback riding, mountain biking, motorcycling, scuba diving and rock climbing.

When does he have the time to race?

"I play very little and work a whole lot and sleep very little, too,'' he said.

Barrett put together his team about a year ago. Former Winston Cup crew chief Jeff Hammond heads the team and Richard Lasater is the crew chief.

With backing from sponsors Bojangles and Odoban, he hopes to race in at least 10 more Busch races and maybe four Winston Cup events this season.

"His only goal in life is to be a successful NASCAR driver,'' team coordinator Terry Allen said. "I see him as a gutsy-type driver but as a driver that uses his head and doesn't get in trouble. He's not afraid of anything. He's not afraid to push it real hard.''

His biggest obstacle has been consistency.

"If we can complete every lap in the race that will be a successful race,'' Allen said after qualifying for the Inside Traxx 300. Barrett started 33rd and finished 21st, two laps behind the winner.