Barron/Blair continue to impress.

Alex Barron and the Rayovac Blair Racing team have continued to quietly prove they are one of the top units in the Indy Racing League, despite being new to the series.

Barron, driver of the No. 44 Rayovac Blair Racing Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone, was in position to score his second win of season last Sunday when he led 29 laps in the middle of the Gateway Indy 250 and was second on the final restart.

However, on that Lap 151 restart, Barron attempted to pass leader Helio Castroneves, when he took his No. 44 Rayovac Blair Racing Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone too far into Turn 1, got high on the track, lost momentum and fell to fifth place. Barron recovered to come home an impressive third but never was able to challenge for the lead.

"Helio gives me room, I give him room," Barron said. "We were racing clean. I went in there pretty hot. I knew cold tires were going to be a bit of an issue. I think more than anything, when you go in hard, you drift up a little bit.

"I think the shavings on the track were starting to get pretty severe. At the same time with the cold tires, moved up a little too far. Took too long to get it back down. It was unfortunate. Obviously, we lost the momentum we needed to go for the win."

Castroneves was impressed by what he saw from Barron and let him know about it in the post-race press conference.

"Let me tell you, this guy did well," said Castroneves, who was sitting next to Barron. "He was very strong today. You were on rails today. I was wondering, 'Are you going to brake?' What happened there? What are you going to do? Where are you going? Track is this way.'"

Barron, the soft-spoken California native, humorously responded, "You said you were going to wait for me."

Barron has reason to be happy. He's fifth in the championship and scored his first win of the season in July at Nashville.

"This year has been an extraordinary experience," Barron said. "I think things are going to go better from here on out. We got a lot of guys on our team that have a lot of experience, they push very hard. You know, having Rayovac on board, and Indy and getting (Bank One) co-Rookie of the Year.

"It's been a lifelong dream. It's taken me a long time to get here. I'm trying to take full advantage of it and really enjoy myself."