Barron, Carpenter to lead Red Bull attack.

Red Bull Cheever Racing has confirmed that it will revert to a two-car team for this year's IRL IndyCar Series season, with Alex Barron driving the #52 entry and rookie Ed Carpenter the #51.

Both drivers will pilot Dallara-Chevrolet packages, as Eddie Cheever's team resists the urge to jump on the Panoz G-Force bandwagon following the marque's success in both the overall series and Indianapolis 500 last season. The pair replaces a single car entry in 2003, which was fielded for much of the season by Buddy Rice, before Barron was drafted in to replace the hapless young American after a string of poor results.

"Our planning for the 2004 season began at the end of last year," said team MD Max Jones, "We wanted to build for the new season and hire the best drivers, engineers and crew to get us back on the podium. We're coming into a new year with two very talented American drivers, who complement each other well with their range of open-wheel experience. We couldn't be in a better position than right now."

Both drivers have graced the podium in the past, with 33-year old veteran Barron winning his first IRL race at Nashville in 2002 and capturing more glory at Michigan International Speedway in 2003. The category's latest 'supersub' joined Red Bull Cheever Racing for the final three races of the 2003 season, having served as a replacement driver for Gil de Ferran, Arie Luyendyk and Felipe Giaffone earlier in the year. His limited outings yielded a remarkable run from 25th to sixth in the Indianapolis 500.

"I'm really looking forward to having a full-time ride with Red Bull Cheever Racing," Barron said, "The crew has already been working so hard to prepare for the season. We'll be testing several times before the first race at Homestead and are going to start this year being very competitive. I'm also glad that I will be able to work with Ed Carpenter, who is very talented driver that will be able to show his full potential this year."

Carpenter, fully eleven years younger than his new team-mate, is a veteran of the IRL Infiniti Pro Series and USAC open-wheel racing, and was victorious at the inaugural Freedom 100 Infiniti Pro Series race at Indianapolis last May. With three second-place finishes in the IPS in 2003, he stepped up and competed in three IndyCar Series races for PDM Racing, twice claiming 13th position.

"I'm happy to be given the opportunity to work with Eddie Cheever, and for a team that he has worked so hard to build," Carpenter said, "I have a close relationship with him since he has been a mentor throughout my entire career. Working with Eddie, along with having Red Bull on board as one of the coolest partners in the league, puts us in a great position to be competitive in every race. Being team-mates with an experienced driver like Alex Barron will be a great advantage for me."

Team owner Cheever is confident of a good 2004 season, despite the disappointments suffered in 2003.

"GM ended on a really strong note last year and have been working hard all winter to prepare for next year," he explained, "I'm looking forward to continuing our relationship with GM and our third consecutive year partnering with Red Bull. Not only are we expanding to a two-car team, we're doing it with two of the best American open-wheel drivers out there."

The 16-race IRL season begins at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February, and the newly expanded Red Bull Cheever Racing team will prepare by taking part in the scheduled open tests at the Florida venue (27-29 January) and Phoenix (10-12 February).