Race Report: Iowa


NEWTON, Iowa June 22, 2008—Despite all the heartache in Iowa from the recent flooding, the IndyCar Series gave the Iowa fans something to cheer about in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 with close, action-packed racing around the banked 7/8-mile oval.


Dan Wheldon recovered from a wall-banging accident in practice, switched to his back-up car and used fuel strategy to win the race which had nine lead changes among four drivers. Second through fifth were Hideki Mutoh, Marco Andretti, Scott Dixon and A.J. Foyt IV, who drove one of the best races of his career.


When rain washed out qualifying, the grid was set according to points which put Darren Manning and the No. 14 ABC Supply car in 19th position. All the more disappointing since the team made steady gains in the practices, finishing up eighth quickest in the final session before qualifying.

The race took place under warm sunny skies. Manning lost a couple spots on the start, dropping back to 21st. He then gained back those positions advancing to 18th by lap 10.


However, 15 laps into the race, Manning began dropping back, saying the steering was too heavy.


The team made an adjustment on the first stop, brought about by Ed Carpenter’s crash on lap 39. When Manning returned to action, his lap times didn’t improve and as the race wore on, he began to slow. He finally parked the car after 94 of the 250 laps. He placed 21st.


The series moves to Richmond International Raceway this weekend. The SunTrust Indy Challenge will be televised Saturday night, starting at 8 pm eastern on ESPN.
 

Notes & Quotes: Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer at Iowa Speedway

Darren Manning: No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda/Firestone



· Manning on Iowa Speedway: “Iowa is a pretty cool track. It’s modern and well-designed with the banking in the way you go into and come off the corners. It’s very nice to drive. It gives a lot of grip and confidence which means you can be aggressive which could have been part of the problem with so many accidents last year. Everyone was inexperienced with the track. It’s easily a two groove track and there was quite a bit of side-by-side racing which is novel for a short track. It made it difficult for some people and I think it will be tough for some of the ex-Champ Car drivers this year. Some will cope better than others but we won’t know what to expect until we get there.”



· Manning on his approach this weekend: “It will be the same as we’ve done all year—work on getting a good car for the race, getting it comfortable for me. We’ve got a better understanding of the car and my needs so we get to that stage a lot quicker than we did last year. Performance-wise, the car’s been running good this year but we need to get some results that reflect how well it’s been running.”



· Manning finished 5th in the inaugural Iowa Corn Indy 250 race after qualifying 15th. It was his best finish in the No. 14 car to date at that point in the season. His career best finish to date is fourth which he achieved three times with Ganassi (Japan, Nashville and Pikes Peak in 2004) and once with Foyt in 2007 (Detroit ).



· In Car Camera: The No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda car will carry an in-car camera this weekend.



· Last Race: Manning qualified 17th at Texas Motor Speedway and was biding his time in the race when a problem with the fuel pump driveshaft sidelined him after 19 laps. He placed 28th.



· AGS Stucco of Littleton, CO is this weekend’s winner of the ABC Supply Your Name Here Promotion for its customers. The company name will be put on the top of the sidepods of the No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda. Gary Stevens and a guest will receive selected merchandise, race tickets, hospitality and garage passes, plus a Meet and Greet and photos with A.J. Foyt and Darren Manning. The “Your Name Here” promotion selected winners by random drawing from a pool of entries sent in by ABC Supply customers earlier this year.