By Andrew Cutler
February 20 2009

It seems that IndyCar & NASCAR races get a fair amount of play on Russian TV: Who knew? Well, the Russians, obviously! One particular Russian, who has been working his way up the racing developemental ladder, has been paying especially close attention, and now is poised to take the next step in reaching his goal of racing in the IndyCar Series. Sergey Makshantsev is a 31 year-old Formula 3 and Formula Masters veteran who has just been signed to drive for Brain Stewart Racing the Firestone Indy Lights Series for 2009, making him the first Russian participant in either of the IRL's series.

"I looked at racing tracks and series in Europe but I'm intrigued about racing on ovals," Mokshantsev said. "NASCAR and IndyCar Series races are shown a lot (in Russia) and so that's what brought me to test at Kentucky (a 1.5 mile oval) last year. It was a lot of fun. The Indy 500 and the IndyCar Series is growing (in popularity) in Russia. I hope to be the first Russian to race there as well."

Sergey will step back into a FIL car next week during the pre-season test session at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Feb 23-24.