Earl Paul Barban Jr. (born October 5, 1964) is an American stock car racing 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. Early life Barban grew up in St. Louis and attended Jennings High School in Jennings, Missouri. 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, operating a forklift, driving an airport bus, and applying deodorant 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, 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 and the University of Missouri. Racing career Barban began his involvement in motorsports as a mechanic for a friend's sprint car racing 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, 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, 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' No. 48 team of Jimmie Johnson. Barban's first race as