Barron flies in at Coyne.

Dale Coyne has changed his driver line-up for (hopefully) the final time this year, announcing that ex-Toyota Atlantics star Alex Barron will race the No. 19 Lola-Ford previously pedalled by Gualter Salles and Takuya Kurosawa.

The young American gained his first taste of Champ Car action since 1999 when he drove the orange car during the two-day open CART test at Laguna Seca last weekend. Barron, who has limited Champ Car experience with Team Penske and the All American Racers teams, has been confirmed for the remaining six races on the CART calendar and the move should see the end of the seemingly endless confusion surrounding the driver of the car this year.

Japanese rookie Kurosawa started the year in the car but his season was punctuated by injuries. After missing several rounds due to a concussion sustained at Nazareth, Kurosawa put himself on the sidelines for the rest of the year after a fiery crash in practice at Michigan and Salles was brought in to drive the car at Chicago, Mid-Ohio and Road America.

Salles, who began the year in the second Coyne Lola before being dropped in place of the Tarso Marques/Swift-Ford combo after just four races, retired from all three races with a series of mechanical and accident related problems. Bryan Herta was lined up for the drive but withdrew his name from the hat at the last moment and Coyne was able to offer Barron a test.

"The test went fairly well," said the driver after running more than 300 miles over the course of the two days. "It took a little while to get back up to speed, but we learned a lot about the car."

Barron's task is still a major one however as the car has scored just one points scoring finish all year and with the first race coming at the ultra tight Vancouver street circuit, Alex will have to show all the talent he displayed early in his career to get away from the back of the grid. "We really need another couple of days in the car," added the driver who is fully aware of the task ahead. "I think the team has a pretty good set-up for Vancouver, so we're not completely lost.

The native Californian will become the fourth American driver on the 2000 CART grid, joining points leader Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser and Memo Gidley.