Barron heeds Beck and call.

Greg Beck's eponymous team will make a return to the IndyCar Series in next week's season-opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway, having signed IRL veteran Alex Barron to pilot its lone Dallara-Honda.

Barron, who has made 59 series starts, will have to complete a series of 'refresher' laps before he is allowed to drive the black #98 CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports car in competition, but Beck is convinced that he has a good man behind the wheel for the Homestead and Kansas events before tackling the 91st Indianapolis 500 in late May.

"We thought he would be a good fit with the project we're working on," Beck said, "He's a former race winner and just a good guy all around. However, this project would not be possible without Mike Curb and Cary Agajanian, who have been long-time supporters and have given us the opportunity to go out and run and build our programme. We're excited to be back in the IndyCar Series."

The 36-year old Barron competed in his first IndyCar Series race with Sam Schmidt Motorsports back in 2001, but has not appeared in the series since the last race of the 2005 campaign, at California Speedway, when he ran with Red Bull Cheever Racing. In four Indianapolis 500 starts, his best finish was fourth in 2002, when he advanced 22 positions in a Blair Racing-prepared car to be named as co-rookie of the year.