[6] Upon the conclusion of his collegiate career, Ryan joined the PBA and qualified as an exempt player for the 2025 season.

[7] Barnes attended Topeka High School,[8] and then bowled collegiately at Wichita State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management.

[12] In the 2004–05 season, Barnes posted career highs in average (226.69) and earnings ($194,300) while winning his first major title at the 2005 U.S.

[13] He also won the first two PBA Motel 6 Roll to Riches tournaments in 2005 and 2006, which included a winner-take-all grand prize of $200,000.

At the time, these were the two largest prize checks in the history of televised bowling, but the earnings do not count toward PBA totals.

Also in 2006, Barnes won the World Tenpin Masters tournament, a non-PBA event that was held in Barnsley, England.

"[14] Barnes along with his wife participated in the 2008 and 2009 USBC Clash of Champions, a special televised event on CBS.

[15] Barnes won the 2014 QubicaAMF World Cup, and he achieved a televised 300 game in the semifinals before defeating Germany's Tobias Börding in the two-game final, 269–248 and 231–216.

[16] On September 30, 2015, Barnes announced he would undergo surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back, forcing him to withdraw from the PBA Fall Classic in Las Vegas, NV, and putting his participation in the December 2015 PBA World Series of Bowling in doubt.

[17] On November 20, 2018, Barnes was voted by his peers to receive the PBA Tony Reyes Community Service Award.

[18] Since 2005, Chris and wife Lynda have hosted an annual Barnes Thanksgiving Classic youth scholarship tournament in the Dallas area.

[19] Barnes joined the PBA50 Tour (for players 50 years and older) in 2020, but the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his fourth event of the 2021 season on June 30, Barnes won his first PBA50 Tour title at the PBA50 Cup major in Lubbock, Texas.

[29] In February 2010, Barnes again qualified as the #1 seed at the USBC Masters, however he lost to Walter Ray Williams Jr. in the televised championship match 290-217.

In the final match against Dick Allen, he had a 25-pin lead after five frames before leaving back-to-back 7–10 splits on pocket hits.

In the 2011–12 season, Barnes has been the third commentator for several World Series of Bowling finals events, joining Pedersen and Rob Stone.

[32] In 2008, he made the finals of the World Tenpin Masters, but lost to Guy Caminsky of South Africa.

[33] Chris was also chosen (along with female pro Stefanie Nation) to represent Team USA at the 2009 World Games, which took place in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in July, 2009.

In the 2006 PBA Skills Challenge, Barnes lost to eventual champion Norm Duke in the semifinals.