Two members of Josh Hart’s Top Fuel operation will be taking leadership roles with Burnyzz Speed Shop in Ocala, Florida, at the conclusion of the season. David Gaterell, the team’s logistics manager and Alex Barrett, who oversees the team’s car care and bottom end, will both head to the Ocala-based company and lead the restoration department and quick service department, respectively.
The move is the latest announcement from Hart who is delivering on his promise to make sure all his current Top Fuel crew members make positive moves and opportunities for the future. Hart will be the driver of the John Force Racing Top Fuel dragster in 2026 and announced in October that he sold his Top Fuel operation to Elite Motorsports.
“In my mission to make sure that everybody lands where they want to land, we discovered that David was very interested in relocating to Florida,” said Hart. “He’s very versatile. He’s capable of almost anything on the race car. He’s going to run our restoration department. He’ll oversee implementing new systems and procedures to get our restoration production and restoration department scaled up. We’re very excited to have him. He’s an organizational guy and he’s going to be another pillar in the foundation to growing Burnyzz Speed Shop.”
Burnyzz Speed Shop has a robust restoration business currently, but Gaterell will be charged with expanding the operation as well as building a program that can be expanded to new locations. His organizational skills will be put into service as the restoration department expands.
“Having worked on building his racing operation and racing with Josh for several years now, I feel we have goals and processes that align with each other,” said Gaterell. “When Josh approached me with the idea of trying to apply some of the concepts from racing into Burnyzz I really liked the idea and challenge of how we could improve and grow the operation into something that could be replicated in other areas.”
Barrett will lead the soon to be overhauled quick service department that will have a classic vibe and feature a truly white glove service. Clients will be able to pull up to a 50s-60s style gas station with uniformed attendants. They will be able to get anything from window cleaning to new wiper blades, superchargers, brakes, and exhaust, all geared towards iconic cars.
“Alex is also very versatile. I didn’t know that he had a background in quick service before he was with our race team,” said Hart. I asked him to come check out Burnyzz Speed Shop after we made the announcement. We shared with him our plans to scale the quick service department, and he fell in love with the idea. He will be the guy that oversees that project and he will start working to help us scale that into different states.”
“I was really impressed with Burnyzz Speed Shop every time that I visited,” said Barrett. “I knew Josh was looking to expand and I’m super proud to be involved. When he laid out the opportunity I felt like I’d be stupid not to take it. The entire Burnyzz team is topnotch, and the working environment was very welcoming.
Barrett has a wide array of experiences beyond his work on Hart’s race team. The 37-year-old Californian has worked for Don Schumacher Racing, Carvana and has also raced his own nostalgia Alcohol Funny Car. He grew up racing Junior Dragsters in Southern California and Las Vegas.
Additional announcements will be made in the coming weeks about future plans for crew members and support personnel. Hart’s goal is to have everyone who is interested in a new role, job or opportunity by the end of the year. Burnyzz Speed Shop is also looking for additional employees with excellent pay and benefit options. Contact: Britt@burnyzz.com
This story was originally published on November 7, 2025.
The post Josh Hart Crewmembers David Gaterell, Alex Barrett Head to Burnyzz Speed Shop to Lead Expansion Program first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
