 | MOORESVILLE NC (5-12-03) Brent Sherman and the Sherman Racing team have endured a disappointing three-week stretch from the short tracks of Salem and Toledo, to the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway this past weekend where Sherman’s No. 44 Serta Mattress/Hickory Farms Ford was engulfed in flames prior to the halfway point in the race. |
Sherman would be forced to finish in the 33rd position and fall from fourth to seventh in championship points.
‘It has been an incredibly disappointing three weeks for myself and the Sherman Racing team,’ said Sherman. ‘We know that we have competitive equipment at the race track each week and we are just getting caught up in the wrong place and the wrong situations. This team has set one goal for the Charlotte event and that is to finish in the top-five and start working our way back in the point’s race.’
Sherman Racing started the season with two top-five finishes at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway propelling him to third in championship points. However the Salem Speedway in Indiana proved to be strong for the team, who found themselves in the top-five throughout both practice sessions. But a five car accident in turn one directly in front of Sherman collected the car and the damage was not repairable. Sherman was forced to settle with a 30th place finish and a drop to eighth in the point’s battle. The short track at Toledo Speedway the following weekend would once again find Sherman in the top-five during practice sessions and in the third position early in the event. However, following a hit from another competitor, the car suffered serious damage removing Sherman from contention for the race win. While the eighth place finish was a solid day for the point’s battle, Sherman knew that the day could have held his first ARCA RE/MAX Series victory.
The Channel 5-205 from the Kentucky Speedway this past weekend was looking to be a record setting weekend for Sherman Racing as they found themselves atop the practice charts through much of happy hour and third on the starting line marking Sherman’s best career ARCA start. But on lap seven of the event the extreme loose condition in the race car caused Sherman to spin on the backstretch placing him at the tail of the field for the restart. Shortly after the restart, Sherman began to notice a strong fuel smell in the race car. After working his way back to the 11th position, a fire erupted under the hood of the car forcing Sherman to quickly evacuate. After a brief trip to the infield care center Sherman was released with no injuries.
‘I know a lot of race teams go through periods of bad luck,’ said Sherman. ‘But after starting the season as strong as we did and running well at all the race tracks, it is just disappointing not to have the finishes and the points to back up our competitiveness.’
Following the May 10 event at the Kentucky Speedway, Sherman Racing slipped to the seventh position in ARCA RE/MAX Series points. The next event on the schedule is May 22 at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte where Sherman finished ninth last October. The race will be carried live on Speed Channel at 9:00pm ET.
Contact:
Lisa Hughes Kennedy, LM Motorsports Marketing, (704) 799-3195 office, (704) 500-9504 mobile, lkennedy@lmmotorsportsmarketing.com
