Miami Speedway
TOYOTA INDY 300

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Darren Manning Debuts in ABC Supply No. 14 in Ethanol Indy 300

Homestead, FL—Darren Manning and A.J. Foyt’s  ABC Supply team appeared to be headed for a top-ten finish in the Ethanol 300 IndyCar season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway when a light brush with the turn two wall ended their hopes Saturday night.

For Manning, it was his first time back in an IndyCar race since July of 2005 and he showed quickly that he hasn’t lost his edge as he raced hard all night long.

Starting 15^th in the No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda, Manning ran as high as 11^th despite a problem in the pits when a wheel weight came off a new tire. Manning had to pit again for another set of tires. The rest of the pitstops were flawless, all under ten seconds.

“For my first race back, I was happy with how I raced,” said Manning afterwards. “I brushed the wall in turn two and it bent the right rear suspension. I had pitted and my tires took about four or five laps to come in and it was loose until they did. I was lapping a slower car around the outside and my car got high. I was in the marbles and nicked the wall. Our race was over. I’m disappointed that we didn’t get a top 10 but I know that we are capable.”

A.J. Foyt said, “We had some problems that need to be fixed but they’re little things. It’s our first time working with Darren in a race so for the most part, I’m satisfied.”

Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon were the class of the field as they dominated the entire race. Sam Hornish, Vitor Meira and Tony Kanaan rounded out the top five. 

Foyt was more than satisfied with the performance of his USAC Silver Crown team with Tracy Hines and Pablo Donoso finishing one-two in their debut runs in the Greer Specials No. 14 and No. 11. The cars were prepared by George Snider, Foyt’s longtime friend and former Indy car driver.

The IndyCar Series moves northwest this week for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg which will be televised live April 1, Sunday at 2:30pm on ESPN.

Team Notes:

A.J. Foyt was honored as grand marshal of the event and gave the command, “Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines.”

Making its debut in the IndyCar Fan Zone was the A.J. Foyt Timeline, an 80-foot pictorial display chronicling Foyt’s past 50 years in Indy car racing. Flanking the ten 4’ by 7’ panels of photos are Foyt’s 1977 winning car and a current ABC Supply show car. The Foyt Timeline will be at all of the IndyCar Series events in the continental U.S. this year.

ABC Supply Co., Inc. hosted over 500 guests at the race including the executive management team of Founder  and CEO Ken Hendricks,  Executive Vice-President Diane Hendricks, Kevin Hendricks, Vice President of Branch Operations, Bob Bartels, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing Operations and Kathy Murray, VP and Chief Information Officer.

The entire Foyt team remained in Florida to test at Sebring on Tuesday in preparation for this weekend’s race.

Joining the ABC Supply team for its Florida trip was Tetsuo Kuramochi, of Utsonomiya, Japan. The young Japanese student befriended the Foyt team during their first trip to Japan in 2003. He has made several trips to the States to work with race team during his breaks from college where he is studying to become a lawyer. Kuramochi returns to Japan after the race in St. Petersburg but will certainly be on hand when the Foyt team visits his country next month.

NOTES & QUOTES:  XM Satellite Radio Indy 300
Darren Manning: No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda/Firestone

·      A.J. Foyt will be grand marshal of the XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 in honor of his 50^th Anniversary in Indy car racing. Foyt will give the command to start engines.

·      Darren Manning on season opener: “I’m eagerly anticipating this race because it’s been a long winter and a long last year for me. Our testing went pretty good in the off season so I think we’ll continue that progress over the race weekend. I’m glad the wait is finally over.” 

·    Manning on Homestead-Miami Speedway: “Miami-Homestead is not a standard shaped oval. Although the turns are similar at both ends they are different because of the winds. In turns one and two the cars get loose, and in turns three and four, they tend to push or understeer. It’s a tough track to get a handle on. However, it will be good in the race because of the variable banking which means the different grooves have different angles of banking: 18-19-20 degrees, allowing for a lot of side-by-side racing. I think it’s the only track like that.”

·      Winter testing: The ABC Supply team participated in both of the IRL Open Tests at Daytona and Homestead-Miami Speedway in the off season. “We had hoped to get in more testing but the weather worked against us,” said team owner A.J. Foyt. “We made several trips to the wind tunnel to improve the aerodynamics and found some things that should help. It was productive. I look for our team to improve with every race. It’s going to take some time but we’re gaining.”

·      A.J. Foyt and business partner Jim Greer are fielding two cars in the USAC Silver Crown Series this year. Foyt has called on George Snider, old friend and long-time partner in that series, to oversee the program. Open wheel stand-out Tracy Hines will drive the no. 14 while Pablo Donoso, protégé of former Foyt Racing driver Eliseo Salazar, will drive the No. 11. Donoso competed in the USAC Silver Crown Series last year while this race marks Hines’ debut in the fledgling pavement series. 

·     For the first time in IndyCar Series history, the season opener will be under the lights. The  Indy 300 will be broadcast live on ESPN2 Saturday night, March 24th,  starting at 8pm eastern time.