"This is an opportunity for PDM Racing," said Diatlovich, who has entered a Dallara and a Panoz for Indy. "By investing this kind of time, money and effort into a programme, I need a capable gunfighter in the car. There is no one out there that I'd rather have in the car than Jimmy Kite. I have been fortunate to work with some of the best over my career; guys like (Emerson) Fittipaldi, (Tom) Sneva, and (Sam) Hornish (Jr.), and Jimmy is on even par with any of those guys at this facility."
PDM Racing, which dates back to 1996, is one of the few original IndyCar Series teams still in operation. The team has entered the Indy 500 every year since the IRL's inception. Kite's #18 will be overseen by veteran chief mechanic Rob Stark. The car is maintained in Indianapolis at the famous Leader Card Racers' shop owned by the legendary A.J. Watson.
"Paul is taking a big gamble," Kite said. "He doesn't have all the funding in place and he has turned away guys with money because he believes in me and what we can do together. That is huge for me. It really builds up your confidence."
The financial realities of the situation will limit the amount of time that Kite and PDM have together on the track. The Panoz chassis, currently being upgraded to 2007 specifications, will not roll onto the famous 2.5-mile oval known the world-round as "The Speedway" until the second week of practice. Kite is scheduled to begin practicing on Wednesday May 16th. Kite will get his chance to qualify the PDM entry on Saturday May 19th. The final day of Time Trials, "Bubble Day", is Sunday May 20th.
