NASCAR backmarker to test Indy Pro car

With the weather remaining dreary in central Indiana, Panther Racing’s Indy Pro Series team is packing up and heading south for a test, again.

Brent Sherman

Just weeks after a test with prospective drivers Leilani Munter and P.J. Chesson, the team heads to Homestead Miami Speedway to give former NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Brent Sherman an audition in the team’s IPS car.

Sherman, a NASCAR veteran with over 60 starts in the Busch Series and six starts in Nextel Cup – including a career-best 21st-place finish in the 2006 Daytona 500 – will run on the road course at Homestead for a bulk of the day Wednesday. While Sherman was introduced to racing in an open-wheel car, the bulk of his professional experience has been in stock cars.

Panther team owner John Barnes was excited to learn that Sherman is considering making the move to open-wheel racing.

“I was surprised when Brent called a few weeks ago," Barnes admitted. “With so many open-wheel drivers moving to NASCAR, it’s exciting when you hear of a stock car driver wanting to come this way. Obviously, we were impressed with John Andretti and his performance in May, and there’s reason to think Brent could be successful in Indy-cars too."