Alex Barron
Barron at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2006
Born	(1970-06-11)June 11, 1970 (age 55) San Diego,California, U.S.
IRLIndyCar 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 in2002
CARTChampionship 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 in2000
Previous series
1997 1996	Toyota Atlantic U.S. NationalFormula 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 racingCART FedEx World Series Championship cars in 1998 and made his firstIndy Racing League Northern Lights Series (nowIndyCar Series) start in 2001.

The 1997 KOOL Toyota Atlantic Champion, moved across to theIRL, 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 inSan 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 theKOOL 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 theArciero-Wells RacingCART 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 ofJuan Manuel Fangio II, theAll 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, twelve races in both theFormula 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 andReynard chassis),Toyota engines andGoodyear tyres. Midway through his second season (1999) with AAR, he was let go. Later that season, he was signed byMarlboro Team Penske to race in two 500 mile events. Once again he found himself in an uncompetitive combination, this time it was aPenske PC27B-99 withMercedes engines and Goodyears.

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

In 2002, Barron switched to the IRL, signing for Blair Racing, where he finish fourth inIndianapolis 500, co-winning the Rookie of the Year. Later that season, he would earn the first of his two IndyCar Series wins, the2002 Firestone Indy 200 atNashville 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 injuredGil de Ferran for a one-off appearance for Marlboro Team Penske, he raced forMo Nunn Racing, filling in for the injuredFelipe Giaffone. It was with Mo Nunn that Barron scored his second IRL victory, in the2003 Firestone Indy 400 atMichigan International Speedway. For the final three races of that season,Eddie Cheever hired Barron to drive for hisRed Bull Cheever Racing outfit, instead ofBuddy Rice. In his first race for Cheever, he gave the team their best finish of the season, seventh place at theChicagoland Speedway.^[3][4]

In 2004 and 2005, Barron drove forEddie Cheever'sRed 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 theChamp Car Atlantic Championship for 2006 withPolestar Racing Group where he finished fourteenth in points. Early that year, he raced twice for alongsideMichael McDowell for Playboy/Uniden Racing, with a best finish of sixth in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the pair aided byMemo Gidley. Greg Beck signed him to run races part-time in theIndyCar Series for the2007 season forCURB/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]

Barron 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)

• Photo sequence of 2005 Chicagoland crash withRyan Briscoe.

• 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

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata