Mid-Ohio II: Panther Racing race notes

Brent Sherman Drives to 10th Place Finish in Second Indy Lights Race

LEXINGTON, Ohio (July 20, 2008)-In one wet and crazy race, Panther driver Brent Sherman showed his resiliency on road courses, bringing his car home in 10th position at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. In a race that saw five full course cautions account for 10 of the 20 laps, Sherman managed to avoid contact and earn his highest finish on a non-oval circuit. Panther teammate Dillon Battistini finished the day in the 19th position, after working his way into the Top Five.

Originally starting in the 16th position, Sherman spun on the warm-up lap, putting him in the 22nd spot when the green flag dropped. Avoiding trouble throughout the race, Brent maneuvered his way to 10th in the rain shortened race.

In a scene reminiscent of the IndyCar series race on the Streets of St. Petersburg with the rain pouring down and a Panther driver running in the Top Five, driver Frank Perera again made an ill advised move, spinning and taking out Battistini. Perera previously crashed Panther driver Vitor Meira who was running fourth at the time of the contact in St. Petersburg. Dillon was poised for his fourth podium finish of the season and had worked his way around Perera into the fifth position, when the contact occurred.

Brent Sherman, No. 16 National Guard Delphi (Firestone Indy Lights):

"It's good to finally bring home a Top Ten on a road course. We've been making improvements on these tracks, and it is good to see the results come. It was a crazy race out there, and I am glad that we made it through. I spun on the warm-up and took a trip through the gravel but didn't get stuck. It was like I was off-roading. It was fun race to be a part of to say the least."

Dillon Battistini, No. 15 AlexP (Firestone Indy Lights):

"I've driven in the wet before, but it was crazy out there. On the long backstretch we are probably doing 150-160 mph, and we can't see five feet in front of us. There is so much spray; it's frightening. We were coming through the field nicely, making our way up to sixth, and to that point staying out of trouble. We were on our way to a good result. It would have been good for the team, but Perera hit us. He was spinning and instead of hitting the brake, he hit the gas and got into us."

-credit: pr