Robert ‘Bootie’ Barker is the crew chief of the No. 23 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing, driven by Bubba Wallace in the NASCAR Cup Series. Barker has worked with Ashton Lewis, Bill Davis Racing, Jasper Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, and Germain Racing. This year marks Barker’s 21st full-time season in the Cup Series, his fourth with 23XI. Through 2023, Barker has two wins, two poles, 15 top-five and 39 top-10 finishes in the Cup Series with 14 different drivers.
Barker graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Old Dominion University. He was inspired to get into racing after listening to Benny Parsons talk about engineers building shock absorbers for race cars on the radio. This led to Barker spending time at South Boston Speedway, where he eventually sold tires and worked for Ashton Lewis’ late model team.
Barker became the crew chief in 2006 for Jeff Green and later went on to crew chief Johnny Sauter, Michael Waltrip and Riley Herbst. In 2021, he joined 23XI Racing as Bubba Wallace’s crew chief.
Barker and his wife Christy have two daughters and reside in Davidson, North Carolina.
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