Chris Barrymore

Christopher Daniel Barrymore (born April 18, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the ASCA Ajax Cup Series, driving the No. 21 Ford Fusion for CJ Barrymore Racing. He is the 2015 Sprint Developmental Series Champion. He is the 2016 Craftsman Series Rookie of the Year, and 2017 Craftsman Series Champion. He also won the 2017 ASCA Ajax Cup Series Rookie of the Year.

Barrymore is one of two sons of three time Ajax Cup Series champion CJ Barrymore.

Early Racing Career
Barrymore began his racing career at the age of 7, racing go karts at a go kart track in his Computerville, Michigan hometown. At the age of 13, Barrymore eventually progressed up to late models, scoring his first win at Belltown Speedpark. He scored 30 wins throughout his late model career before eventually moving up to the ASCA touring series ranks in 2015.

ASCA National Series
Sprint Developmental Series

Barrymore was unofficially signed to his father's team, CJ Barrymore Racing, in 2015 and was promoted to drive the No. 17 in the now defunct Sprint Developmental Series. In the season opener at Computer Motor Speedway, Barrymore made his debut in the series by starting on the pole and leading all 27 laps before rain soaked the track, giving him the win. Barrymore would also win the Advocare We Build Champions 50 Lap Shootout at Advocare Speedpark, and would be given the championship after the rest of the season was cut due to a driver's strike.

Craftsman Series

Barrymore would make his Craftsman Series debut at Blu-Ray Motor Speedway, driving the iconic No. 6 for the Ford Development Program. He finished 5th in his first career start.

In 2016, Barrymore began racing full-time in the series, again driving the No. 6 for the Ford Development Program with Advocare sponsorship. In just his 3rd career start at The Stoneyard, Barrymore would score the pole and lead 85 laps en route to his first career win, becoming the fastest to accomplish that feat. Later in the season, Barrymore would finish 5th in his first TreatMyPC.com 150 start. He would finish 4th in the season finale Geico 100 at Belltown, clinching him Rookie of the Year honors by two points over Greg Healey.

In 2017, despite moving to the Cup Series that year Barrymore again ran full-time in the Craftsman Series. Barrymore started the season by winning the first two races, edging out Dan Rodgers in a photo finish in the season opening NAPA Auto Parts 100 at Ajax Superspeedway and then holding off Randle Woods to again win the Lilly Diabetes 100 at The Stoneyard. Barrymore would lead 80 laps in the TreatMyPC.com 150, but lose the lead to Cameron Atwood with 5 laps to go and finish 2nd. He would find redemption later that season at Advocare Speedpark, starting on the pole and leading all 100 laps en route to the race win and clinching the series championship a race early. A week later, Barrymore cut a tire and finished 13th in the Geico 100 at Belltown, ending his streak of 15 top 10 finishes to open his career.

In 2018, for the third straight year Barrymore would win the Lilly Diabetes 100, starting on the pole and leading all 100 laps. Later that season Barrymore would score redemption in the TreatMyPC.com 150, starting 3rd and leading 69 laps in a dominant performance.

Barrymore would repeat in the TreatMyPC.com 150 in 2019, holding off Jared Ayers and Rob Buddy on much older tires to seal the deal.

In 2020, Barrymore would find himself in controversy after being punted into the wall by Devin Smith with 7 laps to go while leading at The Stoneyard. "If that's how he wants to race me, so be it." Barrymore lamented in his post race interview. "But I'll race him the exact same way going forward." Later that season Barrymore would repay the favor on Devin Smith, putting him in the wall with 3 laps to go to score the victory in the Axalta 100 at Blu-Ray Motor Speedway.

In 2021, he would score his 10th career Craftsman Series victory in the Pilot Flying J 100 at the Streets of Computerville, becoming just the 7th driver in series history to achieve that feat.

Ajax Cup Series

Barrymore became the youngest driver to start a race in Ajax Cup Series history just after his 18th birthday, driving the No. 21 for CJ Barrymore Racing in the 2016 Ajax 200. He would start 13th in his 200 debut, but cut a tire while running in the top 5 with 10 laps to go and finished 12th. Barrymore would also make his Windows 300 debut that year and started 9th, but again blew a tire and finished 19th. Later that season he would score his first top 10 finish, finishing 6th in the Northern 200 at The Stoneyard.

After the Panasonic 200, it was announced that Barrymore would run full time in 2017 in the No. 21 Ford for CJ Barrymore Racing and would compete for rookie of the year honors. He would become the youngest driver in Cup Series history to attempt this feat at just 19 years of age.

2017

In the season opening Ajax 200, Barrymore had to start at the rear of the field due to an incident in the Duels with Dan Rodgers, but worked his way up to the front and led 14 laps before finishing 10th. He would follow that up with a 7th place effort the next week in the Arris 200 at The Stoneyard. After missing the All-Star Race due to a crash in the Open, Barrymore bounced back in his 2nd Windows 300 start, starting 2nd and finishing 4th after running in the top 5 all night. Later that year in the Northern 200, Barrymore would capture his first career pole and lead the opening 135 laps before being passed by Randle Woods and finishing 2nd. At the season finale at Belltown, Barrymore would DNF and finish 20th, but still had enough of a cushion to take home the Ajax Cup Rookie of the Year over Adam Petty Jr., becoming the youngest driver in Ajax Cup history to do so.

Barrymore would wrap up the year with 2 top 5's and 7 top 10's, and finished 11th in the final standings, losing a tiebreaker to Dan Rodgers.

2018

In 2018, Barrymore started the season opening Ajax 200 in 10th position, but finished 20th after being involved in a late race crash. He would bounce back with a 6th place finish in the Arris 200 the next week. Barrymore found himself in some controversy during the inaugural Little General 200 at West Virginia, when he turned points leader Diego Orkedi while the two were battling for 8th. Barrymore would finish the race in 8th, but Orkedi implied he was looking for payback on the 2nd year driver and said Barrymore only has a ride "because of his last name." Barrymore responded by saying "I'm just here to race." A few weeks later, Barrymore would qualify 3rd in his 3rd Windows 300 start, and would take the lead from his teammate Caleb Henderson Jr. on lap 146. However, with 8 laps to go Barrymore would hit the wall, and relinquish the lead to Henderson Jr. with 5 laps to go and finished 2nd. Later in the season he would start 4th in the Northern 200, and would take the lead on lap 172 from Diego Orkedi. With 15 laps to go, Orkedi would drive back by Barrymore, and once again he would finish 2nd. The very next week, Barrymore captured his 2nd career pole at the Apple 225 at Computer Motor Speedway, his home track. He would lead the opening 40 laps before losing the lead to Caleb Henderson Jr. Later in the race, Henderson would be penalized for speeding on pit road, giving the lead back to Barrymore. He would go onto lead the final 19 laps, holding off Todd Kidd to score his first Ajax Cup win, the youngest winner in modern era Cup history at 20 years of age. The following race Barrymore would suffer a scary accident as his car got airborne and landed on his roof after contact from Brynn Rennerd on lap 57. He would finish the race in 18th.

Barrymore would finish the season with 1 win, 3 top 5's and 7 top 10's, wrapping up the year 9th in the final standings.

2019

Barrymore would open the season with an 11th place finish in the Ajax 200 despite being caught in the big one with 25 laps to go. The following week, Barrymore would score his 3rd career pole in the Arris 200 and lead 138 laps before once again finishing 2nd to Randle Woods at The Stoneyard. Barrymore would finish 9th at Advocare, 7th at Belltown, and 8th at West Virginia, which vaulted him up to 2nd in the standings, a career best. In the All-Star Race, Barrymore would qualify 5th and win the second stage, but finished 2nd yet again, this time to Dan Rodgers. Despite starting 8th in the Windows 300, Barrymore entered the night as a heavy favorite with his past accolades at Computer Motor Speedway. Barrymore quickly worked his way up to 2nd, and eventually took the lead from Dan Rodgers on lap 132. However, a late caution with 13 laps to go spoiled another potential 300 win for Barrymore as he lost the lead to Dan Rodgers on pit road. On the ensuing restart, Diego Orkedi controversially dumped Rodgers as payback for "cheating", and as Rodgers' car went up the track he took Barrymore with him, knocking both of the dominant cars out of the race. Barrymore would finish the race in 16th and dropped to 6th in points. When asked about the incident afterwards and whether or not Orkedi should be suspended, Barrymore offered this comment: "Absolutely he should. I think, you know with what happened to Dexter (Andrews), we as racers put our lives on the line every week. And you expect your fellow competitors to have enough respect to race you cleanly on the track." Barrymore would begin to struggle over the next few weeks, finishing 8th a lap down at Colgate, 17th after a crash at Blu-Ray, and 16th two laps down at Michigan, dropping him to 9th in the standings. The following week in the Northern 200, Barrymore would start 2nd and lead 72 laps, but once again finish 2nd after being passed by Brynn Rennerd with 12 laps to go. He would follow that up by qualifying 10th and spinning out early in the Apple 225, but would battle back to score a 4th place finish, and he'd score another 4th place finish the following week in the Fastenal 200.

Barrymore would close out the year with 4 top 5's and 9 top 10's, and finished a career high 7th in the final standings.

2020

Barrymore started out the season with another disappointing outing in the Ajax 200, finishing 15th after being involved in a crash. He was able to bounce back the next week by scoring his first top 5 of the season at West Virginia. Barrymore would score his 4th career pole in the ensuing race at Advocare and led 52 laps, but was taken out in an accident involving Jimmy Hood with 40 laps to go, finishing 15th. He proceeded to blame the accident on Hood, saying that he "expected a two time champion to be more patient for sure." A few weeks later, Barrymore would lead 41 laps in the inaugural race at Denver and finish 3rd. He'd race his way into the All-Star race the following week, and drove up from last place to 2nd by the end of the night. However, after once again being a favorite for the Windows 300 despite starting 12th, Barrymore got into the wall and cut a tire on lap 74, finishing 22nd. He would rebound the next week at Colgate, finishing 2nd. Later in the year at the Apple 225, he would qualify 4th and lead a race high 83 laps, but would finish 7th after a late race speeding penalty.

Barrymore concluded the season with 4 top 5's and 9 top 10's, and finished 11th in the final standings.

2021

Once again, Barrymore would open the season with a 16th place DNF in the season opening Ajax 200, his 5th DNF in the 200 in his six career starts in the race. The next week, he would bounce back by leading a race high 51 laps in the Little General 200 at West Virginia, but he would once again finish 2nd after Randle Woods passed him with 15 laps to go. Barrymore would score an 8th place finish in the following week's Advocare 200, but the next week would record his first DNF at The Stoneyard in the Arris 200 after blowing a tire, finishing 17th. Even after starting 22nd in the next race at Denver, Barrymore would drive his way through the field during the 175 lap race, finishing 6th. He would finish 8th in the next two weeks in the AutoZone 200 and Subway Grand Prix, and after missing the All-Star Race for the first time since 2017 Barrymore would bounce back with a 3rd place finish in the Windows 300 despite getting into a altercation with Brynn Rennerd in the closing laps. He would follow that up with yet another 8th place finish in the Colgate 199, and a 12th place run in the Panasonic 200, his first finish outside the top 10 since his DNF in the Arris 200. Barrymore would record his 3rd DNF of the season in the Amp 200 at the Michigan Road Course, finishing 22nd. The following race however, he would finally snap his 43 race and nearly 3 year winless drought at The Stoneyard in the Northern 200, passing Randle Woods and leading the rest of the way. Barrymore also became the third driver to win an extra million dollars as a part of the Ajax No Bull program, joining Brynn Rennerd and Diego Orkedi as the only drivers to do so. He would score his 5th pole of his career the following week at West Virginia in the WesBanco 250, and would nearly score back to back victories, leading 39 laps before finishing 2nd to Brynn Rennerd in a photo finish. After moving up to 5th in the standings, the final 3 races of the season wouldn't be so kind to the 23 year old, with a best finish of 10th and 2 DNF's in that span.

Barrymore concluded the season with 1 win, 4 top 5's, and a career high 10 top 10's but would finish 8th in the final standings.

In Popular Culture
Barrymore was featured on the cover of an ASCA Illustrated edition covering the top prospects in the sport in 2015. He also was on the cover of a preseason 2020 edition of The Fallon Corner.

Barrymore also made a cameo appearance as himself in Fast and Furious 9 that was released in 2020.

Personal Life
Barrymore has a younger brother, Cameron, who also competes in the ASCA.

He currently still lives in his hometown of Computerville, Michigan, roughly five minutes away from the ASCA main headquarters.