SPARTA, Ky. – Vitor Meira had one of 'those' mornings. Fortunately, for the Panther Racing driver, the day got brighter.

Meira was involved in a crash in the practice six hours before the Meijer Indy 300 Presented by Coca-Cola and Secret, forcing the crew of the No. 4 Honda-powered Dallara to make moderate repairs instead of enjoying a leisurely lunch at Kentucky Speedway.

The team didn't have to turn to the back-up car, and Meira took the green flag from his ninth starting position. After slipping to 13th on Lap 20, the driver and crew made improvements during the first pit stop. By Lap 60, the car was fourth, and Meira briefly took the point on Lap 92. He remained in sight of the leaders the rest of the race and finished sixth.

The effort allowed Meira to remain fifth in the championship standings with two events remaining – road-course event at Infineon Raceway (Aug. 27) and race on the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway (Sept. 10). Meira has collected 10 top-10 finishes in 12 starts, which includes six top fives.

Meira had scored the most points of any driver in the stretch from the Indianapolis 500 through the race at Michigan International Speedway on July 30.

'I think this is the hardest we've worked during a race all season,' he said. 'I had no radio for the last 50 laps and you could see how tight it was on the track. Our strategy was good and we had good pit stops all day, especially our last one which was the best. The Lincoln Tech car's set-up was not the best, but the incident in warm-up practice didn't help us. The Panther guys worked so hard repairing the damage and they did such a great job putting our No. 4 car back together."

Meira has top-five finishes in both street/road course events this season, and expects another strong showing on the 2.26-mile, 12-turn course at Infineon Raceway to bolster his championship aspirations.

"We don't come here to finish sixth or second," he said. "We come here to win, and we always give it 110 percent. The rest takes care of itself."