Alex Barron (racing driver)

For other people with the same name, see Alex Barron (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Alexandre Baron.

Not to be confused with Alex Barros.

Alex Barron (born June 11, 1970) is an American former race car driver. He began racing CART FedEx World Series Championship cars in 1998 and made his first Indy Racing League Northern Lights Series (now IndyCar Series) start in 2001.

Alex Barron
Barron at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2006.
Nationality	American
Born	(1970-06-11) June 11, 1970 (age 53) San Diego, California, U.S.
IRL IndyCar Series
Racing licence	FIA Silver
Years active	2001–2005, 2007
Teams	Sam Schmidt Motorsports Blair Racing Penske Racing Mo Nunn Racing Team Cheever CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports
Starts	62
Wins	2
Poles	0
Best finish	5th in 2002
CART Championship Car
Years active	1998–2001
Teams	All American Racers Penske Racing Dale Coyne Racing Arciero-Blair Racing
Starts	34
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	26th in 2000
Previous series
1997 1996	Toyota Atlantic U.S. National Formula Ford 2000
Championship titles
1997	Toyota Atlantic Championship

The 1997 KOOL Toyota Atlantic Champion, moved across to the IRL, where he had trouble finding a regular drive and got his opportunities through injuries to other drivers. However, in 2006, he stepped down a level to race in the Champ Car Atlantic Championship, and then returned to IRL in 2007. After racing in the 2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona, Barron stopped racing at an international level.

Racing career

Early years

Barron was born in San Diego, California. In 1996, the opportunity for him to move up to US National Formula Ford 2000 came with the DSTP Team. This proved to be a steep learning curve from kart to open wheel race car, for the young racer. However, a podium, a fastest lap and six top ten finishes won him to chance to race in Toyota Atlantic the following season.^[1]

Barron in his rookie season in the KOOL Toyota Atlantic series, surprised everyone, including his team, Lynx Racing by dominating and winning the 1997 championship, taking five victories along the way. With four pole positions, six fastest laps and nine top three finishes, he would also win the “Rookie of the Year” award.

Part of his prize for winning the Championship was a test with the Arciero-Wells Racing CART team. During his test, he was quickly matching the speed of their regular driver, Max Papis. Arciero-Wells were so impressed with him, they offered a testing contract. Following the retirement of Juan Manuel Fangio II, the All American Racers Team and their boss, Dan Gurney, wanted a young American driver who could develop with the team, and Barron got the call.

In just 24 races, 12 races in both the Formula Ford 2000 and Toyota Atlantic, Barron made the jump from racing karts to CART.

Indycars

Alex's time with Gurney and his AAR team was a troubled by an uncompetitive combination of the chassis (they used both Eagle and Reynard chassis), Toyota engines and Goodyear tyres. Midway through his second season (1999) with AAR, he was let go. Later that season, he was signed by Marlboro Team Penske to race in two 500 mile events. Once again he found himself in an uncompetitive combination, this time it was a Penske PC27B-99 with Mercedes engines and Goodyears.

It was not until the second half of 2000 season that Barron reappeared in CART, running with Dale Coyne Racing. The following season, he raced just the final two races for Arciero-Blair Racing. During these races, Alex led both, before retiring with problems the Ford Cosworth engines both times.

In 2002, Barron switched to the IRL, signing for Blair Racing, where he finish fourth in Indianapolis 500, co-winning the Rookie of the Year. Later that season, he would earn the first of his two IndyCar Series wins, the 2002 Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Speedway. Sadly, Blair Racing would fold at the end of the season, leaving Barron without a full-time drive for 2003. In 2003, Barron drove for three teams. After replacing the injured Gil de Ferran for a one-off appearance for Marlboro Team Penske, he raced for Mo Nunn Racing, filling in for the injured Felipe Giaffone. It was with Mo Nunn that Barron scored his second IRL victory, in the 2003 Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan International Speedway. For the final three races of that season, Eddie Cheever hired Barron to drive for his Red Bull Cheever Racing outfit, instead of Buddy Rice. In his first race for Cheever, he gave the team their best finish of the season, seventh place at the Chicagoland Speedway.^[2][3]

 

Mechanics working on Barron's car in the garage during a practice session for the 2007 Indianapolis 500

In 2004 and 2005 he drove for Eddie Cheever's Red Bull Cheever Racing. Red Bull sponsorship of the team ended for 2006, leaving Alex unable to remain with the team - he instead took a step backward, returning to the Champ Car Atlantic Championship for 2006 with Polestar Racing Group where he finished 14th in points. Early that year he raced twice for alongside Michael McDowell for Playboy/Uniden Racing, with a best finish of sixth in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the pair aided by Memo Gidley. Greg Beck signed him to run races part-time in the IndyCar Series for the 2007 season for CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports. He competed in three races, including the Indy 500. Barron would return to Daytona for the 2008 Rolex 24, with Southard Motorsport, only to retire from the race. He would not race internationally again.^[2][4]

He now runs a kart business.^[5]

Racing record

Career highlights

Season	Series	Position	Team	Car
1996	United States Formula Ford 2000 National Championship^[6]^[7]	8th	DSTP Team	Van Diemen RF96
1997	KOOL Toyota Atlantic Championship ^[8]^[9]	1st	Lynx Racing	Ralt-Toyota RT41
1998	CART FedEx Championship Series ^[10]^[11]	27th	All American Racers	Eagle-Toyota 987 Reynard-Toyota 98i
1999	CART FedEx Championship Series ^[12]^[13]	27th	All American Racers Marlboro Team Penske	Eagle-Toyota 997 Penske-Mercedes PC27B-99
2000	CART FedEx Championship Series ^[14]^[15]	26th	Dale Coyne Racing	Lola-Ford B2K/00
2001	CART FedEx Championship Series ^[16]^[17]	29th	Arciero-Blair Racing	Lola-Ford B2K/00
	Indy Racing Northern Light Series ^[18]^[19]	44th	Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Dallara-Oldsmobile IR1
2002	Indy Racing League ^[20]^[21]	5th	Blair Racing	Dallara-Chevrolet IR2
2003	IndyCar Series ^[22]^[23]	17th	Team Penske Mo Nunn Racing Red Bull Cheever Racing	G-Force-Toyota GF09 Dallara-Chevrolet IR2
2004	IndyCar Series ^[24]^[25]	12th	Red Bull Cheever Racing	Dallara-Chevrolet IR2
2005	IndyCar Series ^[26]^[27]	11th	Red Bull Cheever Racing	Dallara-Toyota IR5
2006	Yokohama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda ^[28]^[29]	14th	Polestar Racing	Swift-Toyota 0.16a
	Rolex Sports Car Series ^[30]^[31]	78th	Playboy/Uniden Racing	Crawford-Ford DP03
2007	IndyCar Series ^[32]^[33]	22nd	CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports	Dallara-Honda IR4
2008	Rolex Sports Car Series ^[34]^[35]	59th	Southard Motorsports	Riley-Lexus Mk XI
2017	F2000 Championship Series^[36]	NC	Polestar	Van Diemen / Zetec
2018	F1600 Championship Series^[37]^[38]	NC		Van Diemen Ford
2019	Blancpain GT World Challenge America	36th	K2R Motorsport	Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019)
	IMSA Prototype Challenge	27th	K2R Motorsport	Ligier JS P3

Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2006	Playboy/Uniden Racing	Memo Gidley   Michael McDowell	Crawford-Ford DP03	DP	716	6th	6th
2008	Southard Motorsport	Shane Lewis   Bill Lester   Ted Christopher	Riley-Lexus Mk XI	DP	527	DNF	DNF

American open wheel racing results

(key)

CART

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Rank	Points	Ref
1998	All American Racers	Reynard 98i	Toyota RV8C V8t	MIA 18	MOT 24	LBH 14	NZR DNQ	RIO 12	STL 14	MIL DNQ	DET 20	POR 14	CLE 15	TOR 28	MIS 15										27th	2	^[39]
		Eagle 987	Toyota RV8D V8t													MDO 16	ROA 24	VAN 19	LS 20	HOU 12	SRF 19	FON 13
1999	All American Racers	Eagle 997	Toyota RV8D V8t	MIA 15	MOT 17	LBH 23	NZR 9	RIO 23	STL 16	MIL 14	POR	CLE	ROA	TOR											27th	4	^[40]
	Team Penske	Penske PC-27	Mercedes-Benz IC108E V8t												MIS 18	DET	MDO	CHI	VAN	LS	HOU	SRF	FON 24
2000	Dale Coyne Racing	Lola B2K/00	Ford XF V8t	MIA	LBH	RIO	MOT	NZR	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	CHI	MDO	ROA	VAN 13	LS 21	STL 17	HOU 12	SRF 14	FON 8		26th	6	^[41]
2001	Arciero-Blair Racing	Lola B2K/00	Ford XF V8t	MTY	LBH	TXS	NZR	MOT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	CHI	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAU	ROC	HOU	LS	SRF 13	FON 9	29th	4	^[42]

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	No.	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points	Ref
2001	Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Dallara IR-01	99	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	PHX	HMS	ATL	INDY	TXS	PPI	RIR	KAN	NSH	KTY	STL 21	CHI	TX2					44th	9	^[43]
2002	Blair Racing	Dallara IR-02	44	Chevrolet Indy V8	HMS 8	PHX 23	FON 12	NZR 6	INDY 4	TXS 10	PPI 10	RIR 10	KAN 8	NSH 1	MCH 12	KTY 9	STL 3	CHI 12	TX2 5			5th	366	^[44]
2003	Penske Racing	G-Force GF09	6	Toyota Indy V8	HMS	PHX	MOT 17															17th	216	^[45]
	Mo Nunn Racing		20					INDY 6	TXS	PPI	RIR	KAN
			21										NSH 5	MCH 1	STL 16	KTY 20	NZR 15
	Team Cheever	Dallara IR-03	52	Chevrolet Indy V8														CHI 7	FON 10	TX2 20
2004	Cheever Racing	Dallara IR-04	51		HMS 16	PHX 4	MOT 12	INDY 12	TXS 3	RIR 22	KAN 10	NSH 17	MIL 7	MCH 11	KTY 11	PPI 10	NZR 12	CHI 12	FON 18	TX2 14		12th	310	^[46]
2005	Team Cheever	Dallara IR-05		Toyota Indy V8	HMS 8	PHX 13	STP 10	MOT 19	INDY 13	TXS 14	RIR 6	KAN 13	NSH 15	MIL 8	MCH 11	KTY 4	PPI 18	SNM 3	CHI 21	WGL 17	FON 14	11th	329	^[47]
2007	CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports	Dallara IR-05	98	Honda HI7R V8	HMS 19	STP	MOT	KAN 16	INDY 15	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	MCH	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI	22nd	41	^[48]

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums (non-win)	Top 10s (non-podium)	Indianapolis 500 wins	Championships
6	6	62	0	2	3	22	0	0

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2002	Dallara IR-02	Chevrolet Indy V8	26	4	Blair Racing
2003	G-Force GF09	Toyota Indy V8	25	6	Mo Nunn Racing
2004	Dallara IR-04	Chevrolet Indy V8	24	12	Team Cheever
2005	Dallara IR-05	Toyota Indy V8	22	13	Team Cheever
2007	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI7R V8	26	15	CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports

References

1. . Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2014-10-23.
2. . Archived from the original on 2014-10-23. Retrieved 2014-10-23.
3. "Race Results". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
4. "Photos of Alex Barron's cars". Racingsportscars.com. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
5. "Alex Barron". Oldracingcars.com.
6. "1996 SCCA/USAC United States Formula Ford 2000 National Championship". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
7. "United States Formula Ford 2000 National Championship 1996 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
8. "1997 KOOL Toyota Atlantic Championship". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
9. "KOOL Toyota Atlantic Championship 1997 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
10. "1998 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
11. "CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 1998 standings". Driver db.com.
12. "1999 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
13. "CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 1999 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com.
14. "2000 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
15. "CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 2000 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com.
16. "2001 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
17. "CART FedEx Championship Series 2001 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com.
18. "Standings". Racing-reference.info.
19. "Indy Racing Northern Light Series 2001 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
20. "Standings". Racing-reference.info.
21. "Indy Racing League 2002 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
22. "Standings". Racing-reference.info.
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24. "Standings". Racing-reference.info.
25. "IRL IndyCar Series 2004 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
26. "Standings". Racing-reference.info.
27. "IRL IndyCar Series 2005 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
28. "2006 Yokohama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
29. "Yokohama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda 2006 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com.
30. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-17. Retrieved 2013-10-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
31. . Archived from the original on 2014-07-17. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
32. "Standings". Racing-reference.info.
33. "IndyCar Series 2007 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com.
34. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-17. Retrieved 2014-10-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
35. "Grand American Rolex Series - DP 2008 standings". Driverdb.com. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
36. "Formula2000 : Practice 1 / 27 April 2017 : Virginia International Raceway" (PDF). Assets-global.website-files.com. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
37. "F1600 Championship Series 2018 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com.
38. "Formula1600 : Practice 1 / 1 June 2018 : Virginia International Raceway" (PDF). Assets-global.website-files.com. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
39. "Alex Barron – 1998 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
40. "Alex Barron – 1999 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
41. "Alex Barron – 2000 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
42. "Alex Barron – 2001 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
43. "Alex Barron – 2001 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
44. "Alex Barron – 2002 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
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48. "Alex Barron – 2007 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.

External links

• with Ryan Briscoe.

Sporting positions
Preceded by Patrick Carpentier	Toyota Atlantic Champion 1997	Succeeded by Lee Bentham
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Hélio Castroneves	Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year (with Tomas Scheckter) 2002	Succeeded by Toranosuke Takagi