Manning Posts
Career Best at Indy, Simmons Leaves Disappointed
INDIANAPOLIS May 25, 2008—Darren Manning and A.J.
Foyt’s No. 14 ABC Supply team served notice with a strong
performance in the Indianapolis 500 which saw them racing
with the leaders, or charging back to the front after
contact during a pit stop incident. The day didn’t go quite
as well for teammate Jeff Simmons whose day ended after
contact with the wall on lap 112.
Manning gave no quarter and was given none. It may have cost
him a top five finish, but the fact was he was charging
forward from the drop of the green flag. After starting
14th, he placed ninth for his best start and finish in four
500s. It was the first top-10 finish for Foyt’s team since
Eliseo Salazar’s 7th place in 2001 and third place in 2000.
The trouble for Manning came on his third pitstop, while
running sixth. Manning exited his pit stall, barely missing
Alex Lloyd diving in ahead of him, but getting clipped by
Buddy Rice who was cutting across to his stall ahead of
Lloyd. Manning lost his right front wing endplate and
sustained a damaged wing which had to be replaced.
“Larry was yelling for me to stop, stop, stop, and I was
thinking go, go, go!,” said Manning afterwards. “I figured
I’d sort it out when I got out there.”
He almost made it. Had Rice given way just the slightest bit
as he was trying to enter his pit stall, Manning might have
come through unscathed. But there was little give-and-take
in this race, either in the pits or on the track. Eight
cautions for 69 laps slowed the event.
“I’m a bit frustrated with myself for making a mistake on
the pit stop,” Manning said. “I wanted to go because we were
in sixth place and running comfortably up there.
“We just knocked the front wing off and had to borrow
Anthony (Foyt)’s front wing because (teammate) Jeff
(Simmons) had already used one of our spares. So, at least
it’s good to have another Foyt out there in the race.”
After replacing the nose and front wing assembly, Manning
dropped to 24th but remained on the lead lap. He marched
back through the field picking cars off one by one on the
straightaways. The team tried running a fuel strategy in the
final 40 laps that was pitched when Milka Duno spun with 30
laps to go. At that point, he was full throttle. He posted
his fastest lap (222.208 mph) of the race on lap 181 when he
went from 10th to ninth, where he remained.
Teammate Jeff Simmons in the No. 41 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda
was running strong having come from 24th to 13th by the time
of his second pit stop. The first miscue in the pits
occurred when Lloyd clipped Simmons nose as Simmons exited
his stall. They replaced his nose assembly but the car
didn’t handle quite as well, despite adjustments in the
pits.
Simmons’ luck went from bad to worse as he warmed his tires
preparing for a restart on lap 112. The car veered sharply
to the right into the outer wall and then careened across
the track into the inside retaining wall.
“The car was getting pretty loose on those runs,” said
Simmons. “I was trying to get the tires warm for the
restart. I think it just hooked up, and I went into the
wall. I’ve seen a lot of guys do it, but I never thought it
would happen to me.”
A.J. Foyt IV celebrated his 24th birthday on race day but he
wasn’t in a celebratory mood after this race and with good
reason. Snakebit would describe his month as he sstained
several mishaps, none of his doing. On race day didn't, his
luck didn't improve.
Starting 31st, he was making his way through the field
nicely when he caught on fire during his second pit stop.
The team sent him before his fueling rig was totally
disengaged. He wasn’t injured and he rejoined the race after
20 laps to gain points, going from 32nd to finish 21st.
“Obviously, it was terrible,” said Foyt IV afterwards. “I
mean, we caught on fire there again, in the pits and it
ruined our day. We had to get out of the car and get the car
all sorted out, and it was just miserable. From there on,
you're just out there riding around and trying to stay out
of trouble, waiting to screw up. It was a terrible race, a
miserable race. One of the worst of my life. You don't learn
anything trying to stay out of everybody's way, and that's
the worst way in the world to race.”
Pole winner Scott Dixon won his first Indy 500 with an
unparalleled performance. Although there nine leaders, Dixon
dominated leading seven times for 115 of the 200 laps.
Second through fifth were Vitor Meira, Marco Andretti, Helio
Castroneves and Ed Carpenter who posted a career best
showing at Indy.
Manning and Simmons Put ABC Supply Cars Solidly in the
Indy 500
INDIANAPOLIS May 17—Darren Manning and Jeff Simmons put
the ABC Supply cars solidly in the field for the
Indianapolis 500 this afternoon under sunny skies and windy
conditions.
Manning qualified the No. 14 with a four lap average speed
of 222.430 mph and will start 14th in the middle of row
five. Simmons’ qualifying run of 221.403 mph average puts
him on the outside of row six in the 24th slot.
“It’s been a tough month so far,” said Manning. “If we had
this car on Pole Day, we would have been in the top 11—the
car was that good.”
Manning was on pace to be the fastest qualifier of the day
until his final lap.
“I was cautious on the out-lap,” said Manning, “and maybe
overly cautious on the final lap. I got out of the gas and
it dropped my speed more than I thought it would. I knew we
were safely in the field and at that point I figured caution
was the better part of valor. I’m happy with what we have.”
Simmons’ deal to drive for Foyt came about after the first
week of practice, so as a second weekend qualifier, he
didn’t get in the car until Wednesday.
“I’m happy for the team, A.J. and ABC Supply that I was able
to deliver on the first part of the promise which was to get
it in the show,” said Simmons. “We ran quicker earlier in
the day but the track conditions changed quite a bit. It was
greasier and the wind was blowing pretty good.
“It’s great to be back. I love racing here and I love racing
with A.J. Foyt. He’s been engineering me this week and it’s
been a privilege. Coming here without a ride and then being
here with A.J. is just fantastic!”
Foyt considered trying to re-qualify Simmons later in the
day but the wind picked up which made his decision easier to
stay with the initial run.
Four cars crashed today in practice with most of the
problems occurring at the south end of the track. Driver
Phil Giebler, awake and alert, was taken to Methodist
Hospital for further tests.
The field was filled with Marty Roth qualifying just before
the 6 p.m. gun went off signifying the end of qualifying
with a four-lap average of 215.506 mph.
Bump Day will see at least three drivers attempt to bump
their way into the field including A.J. Foyt IV who waived
off two qualifying attempts before taking the green flag.
Weather should allow Foyt ample opportunity to qualify
tomorrow.
NOTES & QUOTES:
Indianapolis 500 Qualifying
Darren Manning: ABC Supply No. 14 Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Darren Manning on Indy 500 Qualifying: “The
unification of the two series means that there are now 25
strong cars competing for those top 11 positions on Pole
Day. The new teams have been waiting for Indy because the
extra practice time before qualifying (25 hours vs. the
normal 2 hours at other races) will help them dial in their
cars, so we will be focusing our attention on
qualifying even more so than usual. Having said that, we’ll
also benefit from that extra track time. Last year we barely
missed the top 11 with the ABC car, so the next day I ran
more conservatively just to get it in the show which we did
comfortably. That won’t be the case this year—we’ll
definitely be striving to get the car in on the first day
which would be good because I don’t want to have to wait
around even a day, and certainly not a whole week.”
Manning on the pressure of running for Foyt at Indy:
“Actually it makes it more fun for me because there is so
much more interest from A.J. and I revel in that. I don’t
mind the extra pressure. Not to say that A.J. isn’t
interested in the other races, but everyone on this team
knows what Indy means to A.J.”
Best Qualifying Runs at Indy: Darren Manning’s best
qualifying run at Indy is 15th (for Ganassi Racing in 2004
and Foyt Racing in 2007). A.J. Foyt Racing’s best IRL
qualifying effort at Indy came in 1998 when Billy Boat won
the pole (223.503 mph) and Kenny Brack started third.
Three generations of racing Foyts are represented in
the Sports Museum of America’s motorsports area of the
nearly 50,000 square foot museum. A.J., Larry and A.J. IV
each loaned a pair of their driving shoes to be included in
the display. The Sports Museum of America is the nation’s
first multi-media, interactive all-sports museum experience
celebrating the significance of sports in American culture.
Although A.J. Foyt, a member of the Museum’s Board of
Trustees, was in Indianapolis for the first day of practice,
dozens of legendary hall of famers and icons from all sports
were on hand for the May 6th Opening Day ceremonies, as well
as New York City Mayor Bloomberg, and other dignitaries. The
events take place inside and outside the museum, just steps
from the Statue of Liberty ferry and World Trade Center
Memorial.
Pole Day Qualifications for the Indy 500 will be
shown live Saturday, May 10th from 12 Noon-2:00 p.m. on
ESPN2, and live on ABC-TV from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. The wrap-up
will air live from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. ESPN2. The 92nd Running
of the Indianapolis 500 will be shown live on ABC-TV
starting at 12 noon on Sunday, May 25th.
