Alex Barron | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Born | San Diego, California, U.S. | June 11, 1970
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 [1] (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.
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. [2]
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.
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. [3] [4]
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. [3] [5]
He now runs a kart business. [6]
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 |
(key)
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 V8 t | 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 | [40] | |||||||||
Eagle 987 | Toyota RV8D V8 t | MDO 16 | ROA 24 | VAN 19 | LS 20 | HOU 12 | SRF 19 | FON 13 | |||||||||||||||||||
1999 | All American Racers | Eagle 997 | Toyota RV8D V8 t | MIA 15 | MOT 17 | LBH 23 | NZR 9 | RIO 23 | STL 16 | MIL 14 | POR | CLE | ROA | TOR | 27th | 4 | [41] | ||||||||||
Team Penske | Penske PC-27 | Mercedes-Benz IC108E V8 t | MIS 18 | DET | MDO | CHI | VAN | LS | HOU | SRF | FON 24 | ||||||||||||||||
2000 | Dale Coyne Racing | Lola B2K/00 | Ford XF V8 t | 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 | [42] | |
2001 | Arciero-Blair Racing | Lola B2K/00 | Ford XF V8 t | 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 | [43] |
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 | [44] | ||||
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 | [45] | ||
2003 | Penske Racing | G-Force GF09 | 6 | Toyota Indy V8 | HMS | PHX | MOT 17 | 17th | 216 | [46] | ||||||||||||||
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 | [47] | ||
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 | [48] | |
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 | [49] |
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 |
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 |
Arie Luijendijk, nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman," is a Dutch former auto racing driver, and winner of the 1990 and 1997 Indianapolis 500 races. He was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 2009, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2014.
Albert Lee "Buddy" Rice 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.
Edward McKayCheever Jr. 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 races and started 132, more than any other American, driving for nine different teams from 1978 through 1989. In 1996, he formed his own IRL team, Team Cheever, and won the 1998 Indianapolis 500 as both owner and driver. The team later competed in sports cars.
Michael Mario Andretti is an American former racing driver, and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART championship, and amassed 42 race victories, the most in the CART era and fifth-most all time. Since his retirement, Andretti has owned Andretti Autosport, which has won four IndyCar Series championships and five Indianapolis 500 races. He is the son of Mario Andretti, a multi-time champion, and is the father of IndyCar Series driver Marco Andretti.
Massimiliano "Max" Papis 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 son-in-law of Emerson Fittipaldi. Papis also currently drives in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.
James "Jimmy" Vasser Jr. is an American former racing driver who competed primarily in the CART series and Champ Car. Vasser won ten CART series races and won the 1996 CART championship with Chip Ganassi Racing. Vasser was the last American to win the CART title. Vasser won the 1996 U.S. 500, and had a best finish of 4th at the Indianapolis 500 twice.
Jeff Andretti is a former American professional race car driver. He competed in the Champ Car World Series and was the series' Rookie of the Year in 1991.
Floyd Ganassi Jr. better known as Chip Ganassi, is an American businessman, former racing driver, current team owner and member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. He has been involved with the North American auto racing scene for over 30 years. He is owner and CEO of Chip Ganassi Racing which operates teams in the IndyCar Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship, and Extreme E. He is the only team owner in history to have won the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and most recently the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Bruno Junqueira is a Brazilian race car driver who most recently competed in the IRL IndyCar Series. He is a former Formula 3000 champion and three-time runner-up in the Champ Car World Series.
Bryan John Herta is an American race strategist and former race car driver. He currently runs his own team, Bryan Herta Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series and is the strategist for the #27 Andretti Autosport in the same series. His team won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with driver Dan Wheldon and the 2016 Indianapolis 500 with driver Alexander Rossi. He is the father and former strategist of IndyCar driver Colton Herta.
Patrick Carpentier is a retired Canadian professional auto racing driver. In the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series, he achieved five wins and 24 podiums, as well as two third place championship finishes in 2002 and 2004. The long-time Champ Car driver switched to the IndyCar Series in 2005, and moved on to Grand Am Road Racing in 2007. After a few NASCAR races in 2007, he moved full-time into the series in 2008. Since 2009, he has only had part-time drives, so became a contractor and renovator in Montreal, trading in real estate in Las Vegas, as well as being a color commentator for television coverage of various racing series. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 32 Ford Fusion for Go FAS Racing. Carpentier is now the president of a home construction firm in Quebec.
Alexandre Tagliani, nicknamed "Tag", is a Canadian professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Canada Series, driving the No. 18 Chevrolet Camaro for 22 Racing.
Richard Edward Hearn is an American former racing driver.
Mark Dismore is a former driver in the Indy Racing League and the 1990 Toyota Pacific champion as well as the winner of the 1993 24 Hours of Daytona with Dan Gurney's All American Racers in a Toyota GTP car with co-drivers Rocky Moran and P. J. Jones. He made 3 CART starts in 1991 but was badly injured in a practice crash for the Indianapolis 500, when his car veered sharply towards the entrance of pit road at the exit of Turn 4 and back-ended the fence, only to careen across the pit lane and smash virtually head on at sizeable speed against the edge of pit wall; this second impact tore off the front of the car leaving Mark's legs exposed. Amongst the injuries he suffered, the most severe was a broken neck. He was largely out of open wheel racing until the 1996 Indy 500 where he drove for Team Menard though he did try to qualify in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 for Concept Motorsports in an outdated Lola/Buick. In 1997 he drove a second car at the Indy 500 for Kelley Racing and would become a full-time fixture there until the 2001 season. He returned to Menard for a partial season in 2002. Dismore has a single IRL win coming in the fall 1999 Texas Motor Speedway race and also finished a career-best third in points that season. Among his 62 career IRL starts he won four poles. He also represented the IRL in the International Race of Champions in 2000 and 2001.
Johnny Unser is a former race car driver and current race steward for the USF Juniors series. He is the son of open wheel driver Jerry Unser Jr., cousin of Al Unser Jr. and Robby Unser, nephew of Al Unser and Bobby Unser, and first cousin once removed of Alfred Unser. Unser's father, Jerry, died in a racing accident when Unser was seven months old. He made 5 starts in CART in 1993 and 1994 with a best result of 15th. He joined the Indy Racing League in its inaugural 1996 season but had a transmission failure during the pace lap of what would've been his first Indianapolis 500 and was not credited with completing any laps. In 1997 he made his first start in the Indy 500 starting in the 35th position after League and Speedway owner Tony George added his and Lyn St. James' car to the field because slower cars than theirs were guaranteed starting positions because of prior races. He went on to finish 18th, his best "500" result in 5 starts. Unser drove the majority of his IRL races for Hemelgarn Racing and in his 14 career IRL starts he had a best finish of 9th in his first series start in 1996 at Phoenix International Raceway. His last major open wheel race was the 2000 Indy 500.
John Lee Paul Jr. was an American racing driver. He competed in CART and the Indy Racing League competitions, but primarily in IMSA GT Championship, winning the title in 1982.
Bernard Jourdain is a Belgian born Mexican racing driver. Jourdain is the uncle of racer Michel Jourdain Jr., and a pivotal figure in Michel Jr.’s progression from novice to Champ Car race winner. Now retired from racing, Bernard runs a restaurant in California, as well as other business projects.
Claude Bourbonnais, is a former driver in the Toyota Atlantic, Indy Lights, and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1994 CART series with 5 starts. He also raced in the 1997 Indianapolis 500, which by then had become part of the Indy Racing League, completing 9 laps and finishing in 30th position.
The 2001 FedEx Championship Series season was the twenty-third in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing. It consisted of 20 of the 22 originally scheduled races, beginning in Monterrey, Mexico on March 11 and concluding in Fontana, California on November 4. What would have been the third race in the season, the Firestone Firehawk 600 in Fort Worth, Texas, was canceled after qualifying due to safety concerns. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Gil de Ferran, while the Rookie of the Year was Scott Dixon.
The MAVTV 500 was an IndyCar Series race held at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The event represented a continuous lineage of open wheel oval racing in the Southern California-area that dates back to 1970. Since 2012, the event had been sponsored by MAVTV, a motorsports cable channel owned by Lucas Oil.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)