# Alex Barron (racing driver)

Alex Joseph 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.
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.
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.
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.
He now runs a kart business.

## Racing record
### Career highlights

| Season | Series | Position | Team | Car |
| 1996 | United States Formula Ford 2000 National Championship | 8th | DSTP Team | Van Diemen RF96 |
| 1997 | KOOL Toyota Atlantic Championship | 1st | Lynx Racing | Ralt-Toyota RT41 |
| 1998 | CART FedEx Championship Series | 27th | All American Racers | Eagle-Toyota 987 Reynard-Toyota 98i |
| 1999 | CART FedEx Championship Series | 27th | All American Racers Marlboro Team Penske | Eagle-Toyota 997 Penske-Mercedes PC27B-99 |
| 2000 | CART FedEx Championship Series | 26th | Dale Coyne Racing | Lola-Ford B2K/00 |
| 2001 | CART FedEx Championship Series | 29th | Arciero-Blair Racing | Lola-Ford B2K/00 |
| 2001 | Indy Racing Northern Light Series | 44th | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | Dallara-Oldsmobile IR1 |
| 2002 | Indy Racing League | 5th | Blair Racing | Dallara-Chevrolet IR2 |
| 2003 | IndyCar Series | 17th | Team Penske Mo Nunn Racing Red Bull Cheever Racing | G-Force-Toyota GF09 Dallara-Chevrolet IR2 |
| 2004 | IndyCar Series | 12th | Red Bull Cheever Racing | Dallara-Chevrolet IR2 |
| 2005 | IndyCar Series | 11th | Red Bull Cheever Racing | Dallara-Toyota IR5 |
| 2006 | Yokohama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda | 14th | Polestar Racing | Swift-Toyota 0.16a |
| 2006 | Rolex Sports Car Series | 78th | Playboy/Uniden Racing | Crawford-Ford DP03 |
| 2007 | IndyCar Series | 22nd | CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports | Dallara-Honda IR4 |
| 2008 | Rolex Sports Car Series | 59th | Southard Motorsports | Riley-Lexus Mk XI |
| 2017 | F2000 Championship Series | NC | Polestar | Van Diemen / Zetec |
| 2018 | F1600 Championship Series | NC | | Van Diemen Ford |
| 2019 | Blancpain GT World Challenge America | 36th | K2R Motorsport | Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019) |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 1998 | All American Racers | Eagle 987 | Toyota RV8D V8t | | | | | | | | | | | | | MDO 16 | ROA 24 | VAN 19 | LS 20 | HOU 12 | SRF 19 | FON 13 | | | 27th | 2 |
| 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 |
| 1999 | Team Penske | Penske PC-27 | Mercedes-Benz IC108E V8t | | | | | | | | | | | | MIS 18 | DET | MDO | CHI | VAN | LS | HOU | SRF | FON 24 | | 27th | 4 |
| 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 |
| 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 |

#### 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 2003 | Penske Racing | G-Force GF09 | 6 | Toyota Indy V8 | HMS | PHX | MOT 17 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 17th | 216 |
| 2003 | Mo Nunn Racing | G-Force GF09 | 20 | Toyota Indy V8 | | | | INDY 6 | TXS | PPI | RIR | KAN | | | | | | | | | | 17th | 216 |
| 2003 | Mo Nunn Racing | G-Force GF09 | 21 | Toyota Indy V8 | | | | | | | | | NSH 5 | MCH 1 | STL 16 | KTY 20 | NZR 15 | | | | | | | 17th | 216 |
| 2003 | Team Cheever | Dallara IR-03 | 52 | Chevrolet Indy V8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | CHI 7 | FON 10 | TX2 20 | | 17th | 216 |
| 2004 | Cheever Racing | Dallara IR-04 | 51 | Chevrolet Indy V8 | 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 |
| 2005 | Team Cheever | Dallara IR-05 | 51 | 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |