Columnist Ron Kantowski: Grounded Sherman’s new career takes flight

Friday, Feb. 18, 2005 | 10:39 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Young guys trying to get started in the expensive world of big-time auto racing often turn to their immediate family for support.

Brent Sherman, a rookie on the NASCAR Busch Series circuit, certainly had that. But he also received a huge boost from his Uncle Sam.

Well, not only his Uncle Sam. Everybody's Uncle Sam.

Owing to NASCAR's widespread and continuous growth, there are a lot of roads now available to men who aspire to drive around in circles for a living. That said, the road that Sherman took is certainly one of the lesser traveled ones.

Rest assured there won't be many Air Force veterans starting their engines at Daytona this weekend.

There were so many guys in battle fatigues hanging around Sherman during a recent test session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that you would have thought Jimmy Johnson's Miami Hurricanes were holding a reunion in the garage area.

But he also chatted with a couple of guys in dress blues sporting a lot of ribbons. They wanted to know if Sherman had any interest in returning to the wild blue yonder across the street at Nellis Air Force Base during NASCAR week in Las Vegas.

"The Thunderbirds are going to be having their first flight that weekend as a new team," Sherman said about the possibility of getting a real speed fix by riding shotgun with the precision flying team. "I'm going to sign some autographs at the PX and maybe talk to some of the airmen over there."

Sherman, who grew up in North Barrington, Ill., a well-to-do suburb of Chicago, played soccer, golf, tennis and even lacrosse as a youngster. His private school background is not typical of a kid who winds up joining the Air Force. Maybe the Air Force Academy, but not the Air Force where guys get their hands dirty working on fighter jets.

When I asked Sherman how a kid who played all the country club sports wound up in basic training, he told a familiar tale.

"I was a troublemaker," he said with a hearty chuckle. "I was never in big trouble, but I was in enough trouble to where I didn't respect my elders and needed some focus. I wasn't a big fan of school, didn't do well in school, really, and it (the service) seemed like the next best thing."

But it wasn't one of those deals where a frustrated father drives an unruly son down to the recruitment center for a free haircut and to let Uncle Sam make a man out of him.

"To be honest with you, he didn't want me to go into the Air Force," Sherman said. "But after three or four years, even after two years, he said it was the best decision I ever made."

Sherman set his sights high. He wanted to be the next Maverick. Or at least Goose. Only in the Air Force, instead of the Navy. His plan was to become a top gun in the Air Force Special Operations Command, one of the U.S. Military's elite forces, which inspire action figures and video games and take away the breath of pretty girls like Kelly McGillis.

As Lt. Gen. Clay Bailey told CCN.com about what Special Ops do, "Anything that goes on around the world, we're probably going to have at least a minor role in it."

I guess that about covers it.

"It was the hardest training I had ever been through in my life," Sherman said. "I missed the final (training) run by four seconds and that took my path from wanting to be in special forces and changed everything. Fortunately, some of the trainers spoke to somebody in reclassification, which got me a job in AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System).

"I was lucky. I could have ended up guarding empty missile silos -- but don't write that, because there are guys doing that."

Sherman's Air Force career was a tad more interesting. From 1995-98, he logged more than 3,000 combat, surveillance and instruction missions with the 963rd AWACS Squadron that took him around the globe -- even to Iraq, where he helped patrol the no-fly zone.

"Fortunately, I was able to get a flying job and that was huge," he said. "I went to Saudi Arabia four times, to Turkey two times, Panama a couple of times -- just a lot of different stuff. It was exciting. It was good for me at the time. The Air Force gave me focus, showed me how to stay out of trouble, and gave me guidance."

Indirectly, it also launched his racing career. As a reward for straightening out his life -- and getting a haircut -- his father paid for his tuition at a Jim Russell racing school as a get out of the service/birthday/Christmas present.

Sherman cut his racing teeth in open-wheel cars and road racing, but by 2002 his career was headed South -- in a good way. He landed a couple of sponsors in Serta mattresses and Hickory Farms and began showing some speed in the developmental ARCA Re/Max Series, finishing fourth in points in 2003 and second last year while also getting his feet wet in the Busch Series in three late-season races. This year, he'll continue climbing the ladder by running a full schedule in Busch, just one rung removed from Nextel Cup.

Sherman will drive the No. 58 Akins Motorspots Dodge as a teammate of Nextel Cup veteran Kasey Kahne. He knows the learning curve will be as steep as the banking at Daytona.

"I've kind of been thrown in over my head a lot," Sherman, 30, said. "I've always found myself trying to take big steps and this is another big step. I really want to run in the top 15 but unfortunately, it's going to take a little time because I'm not used to the car yet."

Still -- and nothing against the Busch Series, because those cars are fast and all that -- they're not exactly F-16s. Sherman said if he doesn't catch on right away he believes it will happen eventually, like it has on his way up.

And if it takes some time and the Busch Series is as far as he goes, so be it.

"I want to have a stable career in auto racing and if that means I have to stay in the Busch Series until whenever, that's fine with me," Sherman said.

"It would be great to run in the Nextel Cup series but those jobs just don't open up. There are guys who have been running in the Busch Series for 10 years and if I can compete with them on a weekly basis, hopefully I'll be able to secure my spot."

In other words, this isn't one of those fly-by-night deals for a guy who certainly has experienced more than his share of them.