Sherman Comes Home Eighth At Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (April 27, 2008)  – Panther Racing Firestone Indy Lights driver Dillon Battistini captured another Top Five finish Sunday in the Kansas Lottery 100, where the Englishman led a total three times before securing a fourth place finish. Teammate Brent Sherman ran as high as sixth late in the event, but finished in eighth after his car went tight on the final restart.

After qualifications were cancelled due to cold weather conditions, the starting grid for the race was determined by points standings, which put Battistini on the inside of the second row and Sherman in seventh.

Sherman followed his normal routine of saving his best for last, and got his No. 16 car dialed in the second to last stint; reaching sixth place by Lap 60. The handling of his car continued to pick up push as the laps progressed, and he slipped two positions at the checkered flag to collect his second Top Ten of the season. He ran his fastest lap of the race on the final of the race’s 67 laps.

Sherman will test the No. 4 Delphi National Guard IndyCar Series Honda tomorrow with league veteran Vitor Meira. Then both Indy Lights drivers will participate in a one-day test at the Milwaukee Mile on Friday.

The next event for the Indy Lights series will be at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Freedom 100, which is held on Carb Day, Friday, May 23^rd. Panther finished third in the Freedom 100 in 2003 with Mark Taylor and fifth last season with Hideki Mutoh.

Brent Sherman: "The second to last stint my car was just perfect and I moved all the way up to sixth. But after the last restart it started to tighten up on me and I lost a few places. The car was a little inconsistent; it was tight at times and then I'd have a little bit of oversteer. I felt like we were really good on the high line a lot of the day. We lost some time in practice this weekend and got a little off track in one of the first sessions. I’m out here to win, so I’m never really satisfied unless that happens.”