Watkins Glen


By A.J. Foyt


The Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International is always a great race for the fans to see in person because the track is a classic road course where fans can wander around and watch the race from different areas. For Sunday’s race, the weather was beautiful, by far the best I’ve ever seen at the Glen.


To top it all off, I think Darren Manning drove one of his best races since he began driving the No. 14 ABC Supply car for me last year. I was really happy to see him come away with his career-best finish because, unlike some of his peers, he drove a smart race.


Finishing second was a big morale booster for our team too. Our guys did a great job in preparing the car which I believe was a top-five car. We started eighth in the race but if our qualifying session hadn’t been cut in half time-wise, Darren would have been in the Firestone Fast Six.


But that’s neither here nor there. The start of this race could have ended for us very quickly when there was a jumble-up on the backstretch on lap one. Darren had to turn left to avoid Marco Andretti who was avoiding someone else. Dan Wheldon, who was charging up on the outside of Darren, came out on the short end of that one with a broken suspension. Darren got a big black donut right smack on the ABC Supply logo on his sidepod from Wheldon’s tire but it was a racing accident whether or not Wheldon thinks so.


When the first yellow came out on lap eight, we elected to stay out with the leaders, putting us in sixth. Darren slid to seventh when Bruno Junquiera got by on that restart. When Darren pitted on lap 19, his radio connection from me to him had vibrated loose from the helmet connection just as he was entering the pitbox. But we didn’t know it until after the pitstop (and neither did he). That explained why he hesitated twice in leaving because he was waiting to hear my ‘Go’ signal. We lost three positions.


When Darren figured out what was wrong, he spent the next four laps reattaching the plug to the left side of his helmet—all under green flag racing! He said the hardest part (after fishing for it around the belts) was getting the tape off, which he did on the long straightaway by holding the plug and steering wheel with one hand and removing the tape with the other…all with gloves on.


That hesitation leaving the pits also affected him when Vitor Meira came out from his pitstop because he came out just in front of Darren at a point where Darren couldn’t pass, giving Meira enough time to get up to speed. That’s when our engineer Mike Colliver decided to conserve fuel because even though Darren was faster than Meira, he couldn’t get around him cleanly.


We knew what numbers we had to make and it was going to be close but when Meira crashed (with a lot of help from another guy), we were in good shape…and we were leading!


When the next yellow came out—unfortunately for my grandson who was trying to avoid Milka who was trying to avoid someone else—that pretty much sealed it for us. Then when Scott Dixon spun, taking out Ryan Briscoe, the whole race changed for us. We had a legitimate shot to win.


I was a little disappointed that Ryan Hunter-Reay got us on that restart and I know Darren was mad at himself too. He was worried about the dirt on the track from the Dixon incident and decided to restart after that point. And, he may have been thinking that he didn’t want to do the same thing that Dixon did—get on it hard and spin out.


Hunter-Reay got a great run and got by us heading into Turn One. And Darren didn’t throw a block at him but I can’t say the same for Hunter-Reay when the two of them came off the Esses. Darren was on the inside and had to lift when the 17 car came over – obviously enough that the IRL officials warned him to hold his line on the next restart. When they came to the Bus Stop corners, Darren definitely had to slide in behind him. Then the yellow came out again.


Of course, as the leader now, Hunter-Reay wasn’t about to be snookered on the next restart so he got a helluva jump (I found out he’s from Texas—I’m not surprised).


We finished second and yes, there were a lot of happy people in our pits. And even though I’m not a good loser, I was happy too.


I was very proud of Darren and my team. All in all, they did a great job. I was very happy for ABC Supply because they have stuck with us through thick and thin. If there’s one thing I appreciate, it’s loyalty.


We head to Nashville Superspeedway this week for another Saturday night race. Last year the race went pretty smoothly for everyone—meaning very few yellows. We came away with a top-10 finish at a place where we haven’t had the best of luck. If all goes well with my cataract surgery on Wednesday, I’ll be there. And if it turns out I can’t because my doctor says I can’t fly (in my airplane), my son Larry will be in charge--again. I think we’ll have a good weekend either way.


Please tune in Saturday night at 8 p.m. eastern time on ESPN.