21.APR.02
Rayovac
Blair Racing Finishes 6th at Nazareth Speedway
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (April 21, 2002) Rayovac Blair Racing driver Alex
Barron of Menifee, Calif. and Blair Racing competed today in the
Indy Racing League (IRL) fourth race of the season. Barron finished
sixth in the Firestone Indy 225 on perhaps the most difficult race
tracks to conquer, Nazareth Speedway.
This week has been full of
activity for Blair's Indianapolis based team; they announced Rayovac
- one of the world's leading battery and lighting device companies -
as a primary sponsor for the remainder of the 2002 IRL season,
including the greatest spectacle in racing, the Indianapolis 500.
The Rayovac Blair
Chevrolet-powered-by-McLaren entry started tenth for the 200-lap
race. Temperatures in the area varied from unseasonably hot of over
15 degrees to 15 degrees cooler on the west coast. Barron and the
team experienced weather from 96 degrees in the town just north of
Philadelphia to a quick cooling trend with thunder and rain for
Saturday's qualifying and even cooler for race day. This is the
inaugural IRL race at Nazareth but Barron knows the track well; he
won the 1997 Atlantic pole and the race here and finished ninth in
the CART race in 1999. Those successes combined with the experienced
Rayovac Blair team, helped put the Dallara chassis third overall in
the first day of practice and tenth in the starting lineup for the
200 mile event.
The hot to extreme hot
temperatures that blanketed the Allentown, Pa area turned to cool to
extreme cold for today's race. Light sprinkles threatened the start
of the race but quickly faded away. Barron moved up two spots on the
start and remained in the top-ten for the remainder of the day. He
was tapped from behind on lap 24 but did not seem to have any
damage. On lap 90 he moved the Rayovac machine into fifth. After a
pit top on lap 95 he called into the Blair crew "great stop
guys," and continued on. Hail and light sleet started coming
down on the 24 car field and a yellow was thrown while the drivers
cruised around slowly waiting for it to subside. The race went green
on lap 116 and Barron moved into fourth and then third. He battled
with Eddie Cheever for third but remained there until his final pit
stop on lap 178. Most of the field pitted for fuel and a few
gambled. Barron returned to the race in sixth when another sleet and
light rain storm blew over the race track. With 45 laps remaining
the drivers once again slowed until the rain stopped. The field
packed up for the restart with 18 laps remaining. Barron drove hard
with the new tires and fuel but the many yellows and delays in the
race due to rain and other racing incidents dictated the outcome for
the Rayovac Blair team. Barron finished sixth in the fourth race of
the season.
"This weekend was a great
opportunity to show Rayovac what the team could do," said
Barron. "We should have finished third today, but the rain and
the yellows really hurt us. We ran well and we 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. The track never got wet. 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."
It has been said that there's
no other track like Nazareth, the one-mile oval features a unique
layout that officially features four turns, but many drivers say the
kinks and doglegs throughout the circuit actually provide more turns
than four. The turns have varying degrees of banking, with Turn One
at 3 degrees, Turn Two at 4 degrees and Turns Three and 4 at 6
degrees. The front straightaway is banked at 3 degrees, while the
back straight is banked at 2.7 degrees.
Blair's Indianapolis based
team heads home to continue preparations for the prestigious
Indianapolis 500. May 5, Opening Day on the famous 2.5-mile oval is
two weeks away with regular practice to follow. Pole Day is
Saturday, May 11 and the second day of qualifying follows on May 12.
The final day of qualifying, called Bump Day, will take place on
Sunday, May 19. The 33 fastest drivers who qualified for the
Indianapolis 500 will take the green flag on Sunday, May 26 at 11:00
a.m. eastern. The race will air on the ABC television network and
the IMS Radio Network at 1:00 p.m. eastern; check local listings.
More information and live
timing and scoring can be found at the IRL's official website at www.indyracing.com.
Powerful facts about Rayovac:
Rayovac is one of the world's leading battery and lighting device
companies. Rayovac also markets the number-one selling
rechargeable brand of battery in the U.S. with nearly a 70 percent
share. In addition, the company is the world leader in hearing aid
batteries with a 60 percent worldwide share. Rayovac trades on the
New York Stock Exchange under the ROV symbol.
Rayovac markets a variety of batteries including alkaline and
heavy duty batteries; lithium coin cells; zinc air hearing aid
batteries; and rechargeable alkaline and nickel metal hydride (NiMH)
batteries and chargers. The company also markets a broad line of
battery-operated flashlights and lanterns.
More information about Rayovac can be found at www.rayovac.com.
www.BlairRacing.com
keeps fans up-to-date with all the latest team news and
information.
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