Race Report - Chicagoland
JOLIET, IL Sept. 7, 2008—Darren Manning drove the No. 14 ABC
Supply Dallara/Honda to his seventh top-10 finish of the year as he
finished seventh in the PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland
Speedway Sunday afternoon. In the final points race of the season,
Manning moved up to 14th in the standings. He missed finishing in
13th by just one point.
Helio Castroneves edged out Scott Dixon by 3 thousandths of a second
(.00033 second) to win the race by the second closest margin in Indy
Car history. Dixon won his second IndyCar title while Castroneves
finished second. They followed by Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon and Bryan
Briscoe.
“In the first part of the race we were just hanging in the draft
because they were driving crazy in front of me,” said Manning, who
started 23rd after having some problems in qualifying.
“I wanted to get a good result and I wanted to finish,” he
continued. “With 50 laps to go, I really started racing my butt off
and I had some good racing with Anthony [A.J. Foyt IV] who towed me
up to the top-10. Actually, it was easier to run with the guys at
the front. It was a good result for the ABC Supply team and we
finished the season with another top-10 finish.”
Teammate Franck Perera finished 15th in his first drive for A.J.
Foyt Racing after starting 24th in the No. 41 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda.
He had been poised for a top-12 finish but he ran out of fuel with
two laps to go when the crew cut it too close on the splash of fuel
on a lap 191 pit stop.
“The first part of the race, I was being careful and trying to
re-learn everything because it was so long since I had been on an
oval in an Indy car,” said Perera, whose only other start on an oval
was the season opener at Miami in March.
“I didn’t want to crash because then you don’t learn anything. The
second part of the race, the car felt much better and it was easier
to drive. I think I could have gotten top-10 but they had so many
restarts at the end. Then we had a problem because we didn’t get
enough fuel in so I ran out with two laps to go. But it was good
because we had one car in the top-10 and both cars were okay at the
end of the race.”
There were seven caution periods for 53 laps in the 200 lap race; 17
of the 28 starters were running at the finish. Following Castroneves
and Dixon across the line were Ryan Briscoe, Tony Kanaan and Will
Power.
The next race for the IndyCar Series is the non-points race at
Surfer’s Paradise in Australia Oct. 26. Due to the time zone
difference, the race will be televised on Saturday night, Oct. 25th
on ESPN Classic starting at 10:30 pm.
Qualifying Run
Disappointing for Manning; Perera to Make First Start for Foyt
JOLIET, IL Sept. 6, 2008--Teammates Darren Manning and Franck
Perera will start side by side in the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil
Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway Sunday afternoon.
Manning was disappointed in his run, an average speed of 212.406
(varying only 13 thousandths of a second between his quickest and
slowest lap) which put him 23rd on the grid. Perera was satisfied
since it will be only his second Indy car start on an oval. He
posted an average speed of 212.126 mph.
“I’m not sure what happened but something’s up," said Manning after
his run. "We had a problem with the battery-it drained while we were
in line so we had to change it right before we went out. I don't
know if it's related to the alternator having a problem. I just
couldn’t get the car up to speed. It felt great in the short
practice this afternoon—I ran 214.7 mph laps by myself so obviously
we’re disappointed with this run; I really thought we’d be more
towards the sharp end of the grid."
Had he been able to repeat his simulated qalifying run from
practice, he would have qualified in the top 10.
"We’ll get it sorted out," said Manning. "We should have a good race
tomorrow because when I was running in traffic in the first
practice, I could run with the quick cars like Dixon and Wheldon.
Fortunately here, with the pack racing, it doesn’t matter so much
where you start.”
Manning had practiced in the top half of the field, running 15th in
the first practice and 12th in the second session when they
simulated qualifying runs. Perera, who was working mainly with a
race set-up due to the limited practice time, ran 25th in the first
practice and 18th in the second.
“The car felt good," said Perera. "A.J. was looking to give me more
of a race set-up since we only had 2 hours of testing here. It’s
been a long time since I’ve been in an Indy car so I was trying to
get comfortable. I’m learning a lot. The chemistry with A.J., the
team and Darren has been great.”
Helio Castroneves was penalized for running below the white line on
the track during his qualifying run and was moved from fourth to
last (28th) on the grid. His teammate Ryan Briscoe won the pole with
a four-lap average speed of 215.818 mph.
The race will be televised live on ABC-TV Sunday afternoon starting
at 3:30 ET.
Notes & Quotes: PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy
300 at Chicagoland
Darren Manning: No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda
· Darren Manning on Chicagoland: “We had good qualifying
speed there last year [started eighth] which we can go back and
start with that. Then we’ll add what we’ve learned this season on
the ovals and I think it will help solve the problems we had in the
race last year. I’m looking forward to this weekend.”
· Darren Manning on Teammate for Chicagoland: “It should help
us tremendously to have a teammate this weekend because we can go
through twice as many changes. With Franck, it’ll be another set of
good info which will help us go faster. I can also draft with him in
practice so that will help too.” [About Franck Perera being a
rookie] “He ran well at Miami and I think Chicagoland is an easier
track than Miami, so I think he’ll be more comfortable there. Plus
he’s done some ovals in the Indy Lights cars since then so he has
more familiarity with the ovals. I see it as a plus for both of us.”
· Last Race: Manning and the ABC Supply team started 15th and
finished 12th in the Detroit Indy Grand Prix at Belle Isle. He is
now 15th in the standings.
· Past performances at Chicagoland: Manning qualified eighth
for his best oval track start in 2007 but did not finish the race at
Chicagoland due to handling problems. Manning has only raced once at
Chicagoland in 2004. He was running fifth when he and Buddy Rice
made contact and Rice’s car was launched into a flip on the
backstretch. Both drivers walked away. The Foyt team’s best start at
Chicagoland was sixth in 2005 with A.J. Foyt IV; their best finish
was fifth in 2001 with driver Donnie Beechler.
· Advanced Roofing Inc., located in Yorkville, Ill., 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. Larry Savage will
receive selected merchandise, race tickets, hospitality and garage
passes, plus a Meet and Greet 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.
· Returning home: After the final points race of the IndyCar
Series, Manning will fly home to England. He and rookie driver Joey
Foster will race Embassy Racing’s new chassis WS01 powered by a
Zytek engine in the Le Mans Series 1000km, six-hour LMP2 race at
Silverstone, the circuit Manning calls his home track. He is looking
forward to seeing his family and friends during his short stay in
the U.K.
· Moto GP at Indy: A.J. Foyt will be taking some of his ABC
Supply crew members to Indy next week to watch the inaugural Red
Bull Indianapolis GP at Indianapolis Motor Speedway from his suite
in turn two. Foyt planned to attend this event the day it was
announced. “I’ve liked watching the motorcycle races on TV but I’ve
never been to a big motorcycle race before, so when they said it was
coming to Indy, I knew it would be something I wanted to see in
person. I think they’ll put on a great show,” said Indy’s first
four-time 500 winner. He also attended the inaugural Formula 1 U.S.
Grand Prix at the track in 2000.
The PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 will be shown live at 3:30
p.m. ET Sunday afternoon, September 7 on ABC-TV.
|
