Barron replaces Lazier at Schmidt

Barron, who starred in last year's CART finale at Fontana in a Dale Coyne-run Lola-Ford, has been out of a drive this season. His only seat time of the year was when he conducted CART's maiden European test runs at Rockingham and Eurospeedway Lausitz in Coyne's Lola last month.

"I spoke with Alex back in May at Indy," said Schmidt. "We have raced against each other in Formula 2000 and I have kept up with him ever since.

"He has had some great runs in CART with several teams despite not always having the best equipment underneath him. I believe that Alex is strong on oval tracks and having run at St. Louis already, I am frankly just looking forward to having a great weekend at the race track."

Californian Barron said he couldn't wait to go racing again.

"It's always exciting when you know you have an opportunity in a competitive car," he said. "Sam Schmidt Motorsports has certainly demonstrated their ability this season. I know that Sam is anxious to continue making progress through the year-end and I believe we have the tools to do just that.

"The car will have a great baseline set-up on it and all though there are lots of variables at St. Louis and it's a new field of competitors for me, I think that my experience in running at Gateway will be an asset," he added.

Sunday's race will be the IRL's first visit to Gateway.