Barron Makes Rounds Off Track

There was a time when, to keep his ride, all a race driver needed to do was go fast, crash as little as possible and maybe have a few beers with the owner and the mechanic, often the same person.

Today, racing is only a small portion of what high-level drivers need to do to keep their rides.

Alex Barron, who drives a Chevrolet-powered Dallara for Eddie Cheever’s Red Bull team in the Indy Racing League, is a case in point. When Barron climbs into his car today to practice for Sunday’s Toyota Indy 400 at California Speedway, it will be almost restful.

A week in the life of the 34-year-old driver:

* Monday -- Media interviews in Riverside and Los Angeles, then an appearance at Dodger Stadium before the Dodger-Colorado game.

* Tuesday -- A National Geographic film crew is at Barron’s home in Menifee in the morning, chronicling the driver’s personal life.

“They’ve been following the team around for the last three weeks,” says Barron, adding that he was proud to show off the shop he’d built to work on his playthings -- Karts, ATVs, dune buggies and race cars.

“It’s been a dream of mine ever since I was a kid to have a shop of my own,” he says. “I travel a lot, so when I’m home I gather my family and friends and spend our time on the dunes at Glamis. I keep my machinery in the new shop where I can work on it.”

Later, he and teammate Ed Carpenter simulate sky diving in the Red Bull Sky Divers’ team wind tunnel at Perris Valley Skydive.

“They wouldn’t let us actually jump, they thought it might be too dangerous in race week, but the Red Bull instructors helped us simulate sky diving,” he says. “It was really a blast, getting the feeling of what it’s like.”

* Wednesday -- A sponsor party hosted by Red Bull Racing in Temecula.

* Thursday -- A tour of the Loma Linda Children’s Hospital, part of the IRL’s community-service program. Also, a farewell party for Father Phil DeRea, who has served as Roman Catholic chaplain for open wheel racing organizations for 20 years.

* Today -- After two 45-minute practice sessions on California Speedway’s two-mile track, Barron will join other IRL drivers at the CARA Charities Beach Blanket Bash, an annual fund raiser in a circus tent on the speedway grounds. Tickets are $100 and many drivers will participate in a variety of events. Barron, 5 foot 10, will be in a volleyball game.

“I can’t wait for Friday when we get the car on the track,” he says. “We’ve been struggling, but we tested last week at Texas and Chevrolet has made some changes in the engine that ought to help.”

The Chevrolets have been overpowered all season by Honda and Toyota engines.

“When the IRL changed the engine formula from 3.5 liters to three liters at Indy, Honda got a big jump on all of us,” Barron says. “They came out fast and caught everybody off guard. We’ve been playing catch-up ever since.”

Barron’s highest finish this year was a third at Texas Motor Speedway, the only time a Chevrolet-powered car has been on an IRL podium.

*

Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice paid a visit to soldiers at Ft. Carson in Colorado and was rewarded with a drive in one of the 87th Infantry Division’s Bradley fighting vehicles.

“I got to drive it a couple of miles and shoot at targets -- I hit them too -- and even tried doing a few doughnuts in the mud,” Rice said.

Rice, who will be running 220 mph Sunday at Fontana, said he was driving the tank-like vehicle “about 50 mph.”

Southland Scene

Greg Pursley will put his national championship talent on display Saturday night at Irwindale Speedway in the Advantage Ford 200 super late model race. The Canyon Country driver last week was named NASCAR’s Dodge Weekly Series short track champion.

Irwindale has declared Saturday “Champions Night” and will honor all its track champions from the last six years.

The 13th annual NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion is scheduled this weekend at the Famosa drag strip north of Bakersfield. The Auto Club will celebrate its 10th anniversary as the event sponsor.

Honorees include Paula Murphy, the first licensed woman funny car driver; Bill Alexander, driver of the Shutter Bug dragster in the 1960s; the Frantic Four racing team of Norman Weekly, Ron Rivero, Dennis Holding and Jim Fox; Tom Medley, renowned hot rod cartoonist; Joe Mondell, Ford flathead block engine builder; Amos Satterlee, guru of Ford fuel altereds; and the Dust Devils, one of the oldest hot-rodding clubs in California and proprietors of Inyokern, the world’s oldest continually used drag strip.

Ron Shuman’s Non-Wing World Championship sprint car series, forced out of Perris Auto Speedway and canceled at Barona Raceway, will hold its final race this weekend at Hollywood Hills Speedway in San Felipe, N.M. Rickie Gaunt of Torrance is the points leader.... Stock cars return to Perris for the first time in a month with the Ramona Tire Fall Classic on Saturday night.... Ventura Raceway will showcase its popular VRA sprints and senior sprints Saturday night.