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Alex Barron
Alex Barron surprised everyone, including the entire Lynx Racing
team by dominating the 1997 KOOL/Toyota Atlantic season with
five victories in his rookie year. He also scored four pole
positions, six fastest race laps and finished in the top three
nine times. He won the Atlantic championship and the series'
'Rookie of the Year' award in the same season.
In his test with the Arciero-Wells/MCI CART team -- his prize
for winning the Atlantic Championship -- he again amazed everyone
by quickly coming up to the speed of regular driver Max Papis.
The team was so impressed that they offered him a testing contract
on the spot, as well as, several races during the season. Fate
intervened, however, in the form of the retirement of Juan Manuel
Fango II from Dan Gurney's All-American Racers Team. Gurney
wanted a young American driver who could grow with the team
and Alex got the call. Alex made the jump from racing karts
to the cockpit of Dan Gurney's Champ Car in just 24 races (12
in the F2000 series and 12 in Atlantic).
His time with Gurney was troubled by an uncompetitive combination
of chassis, engine and tires, and he was let go from the team
halfway through his second season in 1999. Later that
season, he was signed by Marlboro Team Penske to run two 500
mile races - again in an uncompetitive combination of chassis,
engine and tires. In 2000, Barron drove the last half
of the season for Dale Coyne racing. In 2001, he ran the final
two races of the CART season with Arciero-Blair, nearly winning
both before being sidelined by engine problems both times.
He signed with Blair Racing for the 2002 IRL season, where he
finished fourth in his first Indy 500, and won his first race
at Kentucky. Blair Racing folded at the end of the season,
and Barron was again out of a ride. As of this writing,
however, Marlboro Team Penske has signed him to fill in for
the injured Gil DeFerran during the IRL's first overseas race
at Motegi in Japan on April 13, 2003.
You can visit Alex's fan web site at www.alexbarron.com.
And you can find out more about his Penske situation by visiting
www.penskeracing.com.
© 2004 Lynx Racing. All Rights Reserved.
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