Seldom does the winner of a race merit one of my four stars but that's the case this week for the Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Alex Barron

	Barron

"A lot of little things have kept us from winning sooner," Alex Barron said Sunday night. "In the race we had a few things happen to us out of our control, the team kept fighting and kept fighting on and off the track and showed at the end we had everything come back to us. Got it back neutral, we showed a lot of speed at the end of the race."

Barron used that speed to hold off Scott Sharp and Gil DeFerran to snare his first Indy Car win of his career. Barron admits that he was far more comfortable on the final restart than the one on lap 188.

"I knew if we could get out front going into Turn 1, I could get flat out until the end of the race to finish the race. When you are behind somebody, if somebody turns in early, it is really hard to get a run on them because you lose the front wing."

Barron has labored long and hard for Indy Car validation. His win was well received in the garage and gives credence to an ever-growing feeling that the IRL has yet another top team.

Richie Hearn

	Hearn

Richie Hearn's fourth-place finish for Sam Schmidt Motorsports is almost as good as a win for the Nevada resident.

Hearn started the season without a ride. He spent countless hours pounding the pavement, shaking hands and politicking for an opportunity.

"I'm tired of chasing ambulances," was the way Hearn once described his early season efforts where he filled in for injured drivers on a race-to-race basis before he landed a full-time ride with Schmidt.

"Nashville was fun," said Hearn. "Handling was real important out there, and the restarts were important. We were running real low on fuel. We were having to save fuel. We lost fifth gear early, so I was having to run in fourth gear the last half of the race. Not only was it too short, but it was killing gas mileage."

Fourth easily could have been disappointing when you realize that Hearn ran higher until fuel conservation kicked in.

"We were second at one time, but I just couldn't hold off those other guys."

Airton Dare

	Dare

Airton Dare, the Kansas winner, had a rough time leading up to the race. Dare's Harrah's team chased setups right through qualifying.

"This track is not a normal track. You have to learn its tricks," Dare explained after qualifying 18th.

By race time, the team had acquired the tricks and Dare moved steadily to the front -- leading the race by lap 119. A pit stop under yellow for fuel and tires put Dare in position to chase back-to-back wins.

Then, he and Sam Hornish tangled in Turn 4, sending Dare into the wall and ending his night.

"I guess I surprised him (Sam Hornish) going by," said a philosophical Dare. "There was a miscommunication between me and my spotter. I was turning in, and I saw him on my side. It looks like he's still a little bit mad at me (for Dare's late pass for victory at Kansas), but that's racing. He didn't give me a lot of room. I got my car into the marbles, and there was just no grip at all."

Sam Hornish Jr.

	Hornish Jr.

Should Hornish successfully defend his Indy Racing League title, it will be days like Nazareth (where his team repaired his car and sent him back out after a crash to earn points) and nights like Nashville that will likely be the difference.

When Sam and George Mack did a 'Carbon Fiber Tango' slowing under caution, it left Hornish's Pennzoil Panther car with considerable rear body damage and a flat tire.

"I saw the yellow come out, slowed down a little bit, got hit and thought, 'I can't believe it is happening,'" said Hornish.

The crew made quick repairs to the car and kept Sam on the lead lap.

"It's a tribute to the team. I make mistakes, we get caught in other people's mistakes," he said.

Hornish held on for a fourth-place finish and got a bonus when IRL officials penalized Scott Sharp one lap for blocking, dropping the Delphi car to eighth in the final order moving Hornish to a podium spot.

"We always continue to keep working, try to work harder, come back for the next race."