MADISON, Ill. -- Toyota's Jim Aust calls him the "best kept secret" in American motorsports, while car owner Morris Nunn is impressed with his "focus and feedback" and Roger Penske thinks he's the "consummate" professional.

And while all that praise is nice, all Alex Barron really wants is a full-time ride in the Indy Racing League for 2004.

As the Indy cars head to Gateway Speedway this weekend, Barron comes in with some momentum from his thrilling victory at Michigan two weeks ago but no job security to speak of. He'll continue to sub for the injured Felipe Giaffone in Nunn's G-Force/Toyota in Sunday's show here and probably Sparta, Ky., and Nazareth, Pa., before Giaffone returns for the final three races of 2003.

Barron understands the situation. But what he, nor anyone else who's watched him race since 1997, can't comprehend is why he's not one of the most sought after shoes in either IRL or Championship Auto Racing Teams.

"Sometimes it's definitely rough but it's been that way since I got out of Toyota Atlantics in '97," said Barron, whose talent was so obvious he leaped from go-karts to the Atlantic championship to Dan Gurney's CART team in only three years. "Some of the decisions, a lot of them, are out of your control. Sometimes you go 'wow, why does it work like that?'

"But everything started out looking real good."

It appeared to be a perfect pairing -- this talented Californian and the legendary Gurney at All-American Racers. But the Eagle chassis, Toyota's new engine and Goodyear's tires weren't competitive, even though Barron was on occasion. After a year and half with AAR, and a short stint with Penske (whose cars weren't up to speed at that time), Barron found himself running for the underfunded Dale Coyne Racing. Despite almost winning twice for Coyne in 2001 before engine failures, CART owners, inexplicably, quit calling.

	Barron has two career IRL victories.

In 2002, Barron moved into Larry Blair's rookie IRL team and captured the Nashville race on his way to fifth place in the standings. But Blair had to close his doors and Alex started knocking on them.

"It's definitely been tough, after finishing fifth last year in the championship, and then walking around the paddock every weekend. But it's nothing new," said the 32-year-old native of San Diego.

"Everything seemed to die so slow there at Blair Racing. We thought we were going to have a go this year throughout the 2003 season but the funding wasn't there."

When Gil de Ferran got hurt at Phoenix, Penske pressed Barron into service at Japan and when Arie Luyendyk crashed hard at Indianapolis, Nunn asked Barron to take over. After finishing sixth at Indy (despite running the last eight laps with a flat tire), he was a spotter for IRL rookie Roger Yasukawa before Giaffone's accident at Kansas City.

"I got a test at Indy for Roger and there was speculation he might run a third car but that didn't happen and then Morris called me after Arie's accident," said Barron. "I have a lot of experience in the G-Force and that enabled me to get up to speed quite quickly.

"But the most important thing is your team. I've done a lot of development programs in open wheel and when I go racing I want to go with a competitive team. I've been fortunate enough to get that opportunity this year with Penske Racing and Morris."

Nunn, who engineered the CART titles of Alex Zanardi and Juan Pablo Montoya before starting his own team in 2001, didn't know a lot about Barron but quickly learned he was top shelf.

"Alex is very professional in his approach, very calm and very good at telling us what he needs in his car," said Nunn. "Toyota thinks very highly of him and it's obvious why. He's a damn good racer."

Barron credits Aust and the Toyota crew with keeping him optimistic.

"Jim has been a guy that I have spent time with when I haven't been driving. Going over and seeing all the guys from Toyota, and he has always been inspirational, you know 'keep your head down, you'll get a shot at it.' He's made some calls for me and they have been great to me."

	“	Alex is very professional in his approach, very calm and very good at telling us what he needs in his car. Toyota thinks very highly of him and it's obvious why. He's a damn good racer. ”
		— Mo Nunn

Of course, unless Nunn can find some extra sponsorship and Toyota steps up financially, there's a good chance Barron will be a spectator or spotter again for the final three races of 2003. Somebody asked him after Michigan if it was his biggest win?

"I'd have to say this one here," he replied. "I'm trying to get into a full-time ride and go after a championship in 2004. And you need to have results like this in order to get in a good car the following season.

"I've had a lot of phone calls (since Michigan) and it's definitely drawn up a lot of interest. It can change some of the things going on for the following season. Only good things can come if you have success."

Robin Miller covers open-wheel racing for ESPN and ESPN.com.