Battistini takes over Firestone Indy Lights points lead

For a driver who had never competed on an oval racetrack before February, Dillon Battistini is adapting quite nicely.

The driver of the No. 15 AlexP car for Panther Racing won for the third time in his inaugural Firestone Indy Lights season June 21 in the Jeld-Wen 100 on the Iowa Speedway tri-oval. In fact, all of his victories have been on ovals – the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway, 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway.

"I have to admit, when I first started driving at Homestead, it felt really quick," said Battistini, who took over the championship points lead by 27 over Richard Antinucci with a racing doubleheader July 5 on the 3.4-mile Watkins Glen International road course up next. "It felt quite dangerous running so close to other cars.

"Once you get into race mode, it kind of goes out the window. You just put your head down and drive. Because you want to go faster, you actually feel slower after awhile. It's just come to me naturally I guess. It helps when the car's great. The Panther team has given me a fantastic car at each of the oval circuits that we've been to."

Battistini started second and hung close behind pole sitter Arie Luyendyk Jr. for 100 of the 115 laps until an opportunity of lapped traffic presented itself. The 20-year-old native of Ewell, England, didn't hesitate.

"I knew that I had to make the most of the situations when we were coming to pass the lapped cars," he said. "I knew that it was my best chance to get past. I tried staying right on his gearbox when we were catching traffic. Even if I could get a slight run, it was difficult to find space to get past. So I tried just hanging back slightly. My hope was that he'd have to back off and I would be able to stay flat. That's, luckily for me, how it worked out."

Luck, skill, patience all play a part in racing and have been a part of Battistini's season with the Panther team.

"The Panther team has given me a fantastic car at each of the oval circuits that we've been to," he said. "We got a bit unlucky at Milwaukee. I was flying in the test there. Unfortunately, it didn't work out in the race (advanced six positions to finish 14th). Aside from that, I've had a car capable of winning every time out. I'm just really pleased with how it's gone."