Alex Barron (born June 11, 1970) is an American former race car driver. He began racing
CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed tr ...
FedEx World Series Championship cars in 1998 and made his first
Indy Racing League
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
Northern Lights Series (now
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
) start in 2001.
The 1997 KOOL Toyota Atlantic Champion, moved across to the
IRL
IRL may refer to:
Places
* Republic of Ireland (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code)
* Irlam railway station (National Rail station code IRL), England
Organizations
* International Rugby League, the governing body for the sport of rugby league
* I ...
, 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
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
. 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.
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
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed tr ...
team. During his test, he was quickly matching the speed of their regular driver,
Max Papis
Massimiliano "Max" Papis (born 3 October 1969) is an Italian professional motorsport driver who has competed in several top-level motorsports events such as Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula One and Champ Car. He has three Champ Car victories. He is the ...
. Arciero-Wells were so impressed with him, they offered a testing contract. Following the retirement of
Juan Manuel Fangio II
Juan Manuel Fangio II (born September 19, 1956 in Balcarce, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine former auto racing driver. He is the nephew of five-time Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
After some experience in European Formula Three ...
, the
All American Racers
All American Racers is an American auto racing team and constructor based in Santa Ana, California. Founded by Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby in 1964, All American Racers initially participated in American sports car and Champ Car races as well as ...
Team and their boss,
Dan Gurney
Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...
, 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
Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...
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
Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...
chassis),
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
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
Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the organizati ...
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
Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) is an American professional open-wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series. The team was founded in 1984 and is owned by former driver Dale Coyne. From 1995 to 2000, the team was known as Payton-Coyn ...
. 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
Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...
engines both times.
In 2002, Barron switched to the IRL, signing for Blair Racing, where he finish fourth in
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
, 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
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand Nati ...
. 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
Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 5 ...
for a one-off appearance for Marlboro Team Penske, he raced for
Mo Nunn Racing
Mo or MO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Mo, a girl in the ''Horrible Histories'' TV series
* Mo, also known as Mortimer, in the novel ''Inkheart'' by Cornelia Funke
* Mo, in the webcomic '' Jesus and Mo''
* Mo, the ...
, filling in for the injured
Felipe Giaffone
Felipe Giaffone (, born 22 January 1975) is a Brazilian racing driver. He competes full-time in the Copa Truck, driving the No. 4 Iveco Hi-Way for Usual Racing. He also works as a commentator for Rede Bandeirantes and BandSports.
He competed i ...
. It was with Mo Nunn that Barron scored his second IRL victory, in the
2003 Firestone Indy 400 at
Michigan International Speedway
Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than approximately south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is ...
. For the final three races of that season,
Eddie Cheever
Edward McKay "Eddie" Cheever Jr. (born January 10, 1958) is an American former racing driver who raced for almost 30 years in Formula One, sports cars, CART, and the Indy Racing League. Cheever participated in 143 Formula One World Championship ...
hired Barron to drive for his
Red Bull Cheever Racing outfit, instead of
Buddy Rice
Buddy Rice (born January 31, 1976) is an American former race car driver. He is best known for winning the 2004 Indianapolis 500 while driving for Rahal Letterman Racing, and the 2009 24 Hours of Daytona for Brumos Racing.
Career
Early years
...
. In his first race for Cheever, he gave the team their best finish of the season, seventh place at the
Chicagoland Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the IndyC ...
.
![AlexBarronGarage2007Indy500](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/AlexBarronGarage2007Indy500.jpg)
In 2004 and 2005 he drove for
Eddie Cheever
Edward McKay "Eddie" Cheever Jr. (born January 10, 1958) is an American former racing driver who raced for almost 30 years in Formula One, sports cars, CART, and the Indy Racing League. Cheever participated in 143 Formula One World Championship ...
's
Red Bull Cheever Racing.
Red Bull
Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...
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
The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...
for 2006 with
Polestar Racing Group
Polestar Racing Group is an American motorsport team based in Chardon, Ohio, which competes in the Atlantic Championship. It was founded in 2001 and is owned by husband and wife team Jim and Pam Griffith, and Bruce Potter.
Polestar has notched ...
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
José Guillermo "Memo" Gidley is a Mexican-born racing driver, of German and Canadian ancestry, born in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico on September 29, 1970. He holds dual citizenship - American and Mexican.
In his early years, he sold his a ...
. Greg Beck signed him to run races part-time in the
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
for the
2007 season for
CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports
Beck Motorsports was a team in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series owned by Greg Beck. At times in its history the team was partnered with Curb Agajanian Performance Group and 3G Racing owners Stanton Barrett and Steve Sudler.
IndyCar
1995– ...
. 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.
He now runs a kart business.
Racing record
Career highlights
Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results
American open wheel racing results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
CART
IndyCar Series
Indianapolis 500
References
External links
Photo sequence of 2005 Chicagoland crashwith
Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barron, Alex
Living people
Atlantic Championship drivers
Champ Car drivers
Indianapolis 500 drivers
Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year
IndyCar Series drivers
Racing drivers from San Diego
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
1970 births
Team Penske drivers
GT World Challenge America drivers
Mo Nunn Racing drivers
Cheever Racing drivers
Arrow McLaren SP drivers
Dale Coyne Racing drivers