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Alex Barron
Barron at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2006.
Nationality	American
Born	(1970-06-11) June 11, 1970 (age 54) 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

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

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

IndyCar Series

Indianapolis 500

References

1. "Alex J Barron from Menifee, CA". Radaris.com. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
2. "Driver". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2014-10-23.
3. ^ "Driver Story | Red Bull Cheever Racing Team". Archived from the original on 2014-10-23. Retrieved 2014-10-23.
4. "Race Results". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
5. "Photos of Alex Barron's cars". Racingsportscars.com. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
6. "Alex Barron". Oldracingcars.com.
7. "1996 SCCA/USAC United States Formula Ford 2000 National Championship". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
8. "United States Formula Ford 2000 National Championship 1996 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
9. "1997 KOOL Toyota Atlantic Championship". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
10. "KOOL Toyota Atlantic Championship 1997 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
11. "1998 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
12. "CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 1998 standings". Driver db.com.
13. "1999 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
14. "CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 1999 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com.
15. "2000 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
16. "CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 2000 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com.
17. "2001 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
18. "CART FedEx Championship Series 2001 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com.
19. "Standings". Racing-reference.info.
20. "Indy Racing Northern Light Series 2001 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
21. "Standings". Racing-reference.info.
22. "Indy Racing League 2002 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
23. "Standings". Racing-reference.info.
24. "IRL IndyCar Series 2003 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
25. "Standings". Racing-reference.info.
26. "IRL IndyCar Series 2004 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
27. "Standings". Racing-reference.info.
28. "IRL IndyCar Series 2005 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
29. "2006 Yokohama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
30. "Yokohama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda 2006 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com.
31. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-17. Retrieved 2013-10-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
32. "Grand American Rolex Series - DP 2006 standings | Driver Database". Archived from the original on 2014-07-17. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
33. "Standings". Racing-reference.info.
34. "IndyCar Series 2007 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com.
35. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-17. Retrieved 2014-10-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
36. "Grand American Rolex Series - DP 2008 standings". Driverdb.com. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
37. "Formula2000 : Practice 1 / 27 April 2017 : Virginia International Raceway" (PDF). Assets-global.website-files.com. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
38. "F1600 Championship Series 2018 standings | Driver Database". Driverdb.com.
39. "Formula1600 : Practice 1 / 1 June 2018 : Virginia International Raceway" (PDF). Assets-global.website-files.com. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
40. "Alex Barron – 1998 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
41. "Alex Barron – 1999 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
42. "Alex Barron – 2000 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
43. "Alex Barron – 2001 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
44. "Alex Barron – 2001 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
45. "Alex Barron – 2002 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
46. "Alex Barron – 2003 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
47. "Alex Barron – 2004 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
48. "Alex Barron – 2005 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
49. "Alex Barron – 2007 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.

External links

• Photo sequence of 2005 Chicagoland crash with Ryan Briscoe.

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IndyCar Series	Drivers (2) Josef Newgarden (3) Scott McLaughlin (12) Will Power Race engineers (2) Eric Leichtle (3) Ben Bretzman (12) David Faustino
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FIA World Endurance Championship	Drivers (5) Matt Campbell / Michael Christensen / Frédéric Makowiecki (6) Kévin Estre / André Lotterer / Laurens Vanthoor
IMSA SportsCar Championship	Drivers (6) Mathieu Jaminet / Nick Tandy (7) Dane Cameron / Felipe Nasr
Former drivers	Formula One Mark Donohue John Watson IndyCar Bobby Allison A. J. Allmendinger Bill Alsup Mario Andretti Alex Barron Gary Bettenhausen Geoff Brabham Ryan Briscoe Hélio Castroneves Kevin Cogan Mark Donohue Gil de Ferran Emerson Fittipaldi David Hobbs Sam Hornish Jr. Gordon Johncock Jan Magnussen Tarso Marques Rick Mears Juan Pablo Montoya Simon Pagenaud Max Papis André Ribeiro Gonzalo Rodríguez Johnny Rutherford Oriol Servià Tom Sneva Danny Sullivan Mike Thackwell Paul Tracy Al Unser Al Unser Jr. Bobby Unser NASCAR Justin Allgaier Bobby Allison Donnie Allison A. J. Allmendinger Dave Blaney Chad Blount Neil Bonnett Kurt Busch Mark Donohue George Follmer Brendan Gaughan Sam Hornish Jr. Ricky Johnson Brad Keselowski Parker Kligerman Travis Kvapil Dave Marcis Jeremy Mayfield Michael McDowell Paul Menard Juan Pablo Montoya Ryan Newman Kyle Petty David Stremme Alex Tagliani Jacques Villeneuve Mike Wallace Rusty Wallace ARCA Austin Cindric Sam Hornish Jr. Travis Kvapil Ryan Newman Rusty Wallace Steve Wallace Billy Wease Sports cars Timo Bernhard Ryan Briscoe Kurt Busch Dane Cameron Hélio Castroneves Mark Donohue Romain Dumas Patrick Long Lucas Luhr Sascha Maassen Juan Pablo Montoya Simon Pagenaud Graham Rahal Alexander Rossi Ricky Taylor Supercars Marcos Ambrose Scott Pye Fabian Coulthard Scott McLaughlin
Indianapolis 500 wins	1972 (Donohue) 1979 (Mears) 1981 (B. Unser) 1984 (Mears) 1985 (Sullivan) 1987 (A. Unser) 1988 (Mears) 1991 (Mears) 1993 (Fittipaldi) 1994 (Unser Jr.) 2001 (Castroneves) 2002 (Castroneves) 2003 (de Ferran) 2006 (Hornish) 2009 (Castroneves) 2015 (Montoya) 2018 (Power) 2019 (Pagenaud) 2023 (Newgarden) 2024 (Newgarden)
National Championships	1977 (Sneva) 1978 (Sneva) 1979 (Mears) 1981 (Mears) 1982 (Mears) 1983 (A. Unser) 1985 (A. Unser) 1988 (Sullivan) 1994 (Unser Jr.) 2000 (de Ferran) 2001 (de Ferran) 2006 (Hornish) 2014 (Power) 2016 (Pagenaud) 2017 (Newgarden) 2019 (Newgarden) 2022 (Power)
NASCAR Hall of Fame	Bobby Allison (2011) Rusty Wallace (2013) Roger Penske (2019) Donnie Allison (2024)
NASCAR Cup Series Championships	2012 (Keselowski) 2018 (Logano) 2022 (Logano) 2023 (R. Blaney) 2024 (Logano)
NASCAR Xfinity Series Championships	Drivers' Championship 2010 (Keselowski) 2020 (A. Cindric) Owners' Championship 2010 (No. 22) 2013 (No. 22) 2014 (No. 22) 2015 (No. 22) 2017 (No. 22) 2020 (No. 22) 2021 (No. 22) Regular Season Championship 2020 (A. Cindric)
Daytona 500 wins	2008 (Newman) 2015 (Logano) 2022 (A. Cindric)
Coca-Cola 600 wins	2010 (Busch) 2020 (Keselowski) 2023 (R. Blaney)
Brickyard 400 wins	2018 (Keselowski)
Southern 500 wins	1975 (B. Allison) 2018 (Keselowski)
Jack Link's 500 wins	2012 (Keselowski) 2016 (Keselowski) 2018 (Logano) 2020 (R. Blaney) 2021 (Keselowski)
All-Star Race wins	2002 (Newman) 2010 (Busch) 2016 (Logano) 2022 (R. Blaney) 2024 (Logano)
Busch Light Clash wins	1998 (Wallace) 2011 (Busch) 2017 (Logano) 2018 (Keselowski) 2022 (Logano)
Supercars Drivers' championships	2018 (McLaughlin) 2019 (McLaughlin) 2020 (McLaughlin)
Supercars Teams' championships	2017 2019 2020
Bathurst 1000 wins	2019 (McLaughlin / Prémat)
Partnerships and affiliations	Ford Performance / Front Row Motorsports / Roush-Yates Engines / Wood Brothers Racing / (NASCAR) Ilmor / Chevrolet Performance (IndyCar) Porsche / Multimatic (IMSA)
Related	NASCAR operations of Team Penske Penske Corporation (Indianapolis Motor Speedway / INDYCAR, LLC) Greg Moore Dick Johnson Racing

• Living people
• Atlantic Championship drivers
• Champ Car drivers
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• 24 Hours of Daytona drivers
• Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
• 1970 births
• Team Penske drivers
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• Mo Nunn Racing drivers
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• Arrow McLaren SP drivers
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