Barron: I should have been on the podium.

Blair Racing's Alex Barron was a disappointed man at the end of Sunday's Firestone Indy 225 at Nazareth Speedway, feeling that he could - and should - have been among the contenders for a podium place.

Sporting Rayovac sponsorship for the first time following last week's agreement between team and backer, Barron ran as high as third in the middle stages of the race. However, with seven yellow flags marring the race, and rain clouds looming overhead, pit strategy ultimately decided his finishing position.

"This weekend was a great opportunity to show Rayovac what the team could do," Barron said after coming home sixth, "We should have finished third today, but the rain and the yellows really hurt us.

"We ran well and were fast all weekend. It feels good to start tenth and run great for the whole race. It was hard today to cruise around for so long waiting to go green - especially when the track never got wet!"

Despite his disappointment, however, the former CART racer refused to be too downhearted, preferring instead to look at the gains the new-to-IRL team had made in the week leading up to the Nazareth race.

"We want to focus on the good things and not the negative of almost being able to finish in the top three. Going into Indy, today and this whole week is good for the team, and having Rayovac on board really boosts our momentum. We tested at Indy this week and that went well. Now we are getting mentally ready for the month of May and the Indy 500.

"Indy is something I have wanted to race in since I watched it as a kid with my dad. Rayovac believes in us, and having Rayovac team up with us is really a great thing for the team. We are happy to have this great product on board; it couldn't be better timing
for us to make a charge to the front. We have a good car, team and engineer and now a fine sponsor. Indy should be an exciting month for everyone involved."