Race Report: Rexall Edmonton Indy
EDMONTON, Canada July 26, 2008—Darren Manning and the
ABC Supply team finished tenth Saturday afternoon in the
Rexall Edmonton Indy on the city’s airport course in the
northern Alberta province.
It was the team’s fourth straight top-10 finish and sixth of
the season—the most top-10s the team has had since 2001.
Manning also gained another position in the points and is
currently 12th in the IndyCar standings.
“It was a good tough race, we were in a battle for the whole
race,” said Manning afterwards. “I think we did a good fuel
strategy. If the race had gone another lap or two, we would
have picked up a couple more spots. At least we have another
top-10 finish for the ABC Supply team.”
The weekend didn’t start out well as the team constantly
changed the car trying to make Manning comfortable over the
extremely bumpy circuit. He was 17th out of 27 starters in
three of the four practice sessions but was one of the few
drivers that didn’t have an off-course excursion over the
three days of racing.
Manning qualified 19th quickest but started 18th when Tony
Kanaan was forced to the rear of the field due to his
unscheduled engine change (following an off-course
excursion). A scramble on the first lap saw Manning jump
into 15th but he lost two positions on lap four and was back
to—17th. He gained another position with Will Power’s
unscheduled pit stop and remained in 16th until the first
round of pit stops.
He emerged in 18th but three cars chose not to pit. He
advanced to 16th and was running there saving fuel as the
team strategized to make it on fewer stops. They pitted him
during a caution on lap 51 and when Manning was at the end
of the field, he ducked into the pits to top off on lap 54
just before the race went green.
The strategy worked as other cars pitted about 10 laps later
during the race’s final caution period. Manning moved up to
10th but lost three spots in the next lap as Ryan Briscoe,
Ryan Hunter-Reay and Kanaan passed him.
“We were a little slow in the fast corners so I got passed
coming out of the fast corners but I was one of the fastest
in the slow corners but it was difficult to get a run on
anyone there,” said Manning. “But we have a good starting
point for next year and have some good direction for what we
have to change.”
Four different full-course yellows deemed the race a timed
event of 1 hour, 50 minutes and it ended four laps short of
the scheduled 95. Scott Dixon won the race, his fifth of the
season. He was followed by Helio Castroneves. Champ car
veterans rounded out the top five with previous Edmonton
winner Justin Wilson finishing third. Paul Tracy, making his
IndyCar Series debut in a third Vison Racing team car
prepped by Derrick Walker’s team, placed fourth followed by
Oriol Servia who started third.
A.J. Foyt IV led three green flag laps for the first time on
a road course in his IndyCar career when his team pursued an
alternate fuel strategy. Foyt IV finished 12th on the lead
lap after starting 17th.
The IndyCar Series takes next weekend off. Their next race
is Saturday night, August 9th at Kentucky Speedway. The
Meijer Indy 300 will be televised live on ESPN2 starting at
6:30 pm ET.
Notes & Quotes: Rexall Edmonton Indy
Darren Manning: No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda
· Darren Manning on racing at Edmonton: “I’ve never
been there but I hear it’s fast and wide which is good. It’s
supposed to be a fun track to drive with some very fast
complex chicanes. I’ve heard it’s quite like Cleveland which
I’ve driven before and it’s also on an airport. Because of
that, the surface is a little bumpy but it gives opportunity
for overtaking which will be quite good. I’m not too worried
about not being there before because in Europe I was always
having to learn new tracks very quickly so it won’t take me
too much time to figure it out. After I do, we can get on to
getting the ABC car going well.”
· Manning on racing in Canada: “The fans in Canada
are very knowledgeable about motorsports. They don’t have
that many international races there so they really do come
out for the ones that they do have. Canada’s a great fan
base for the IndyCar Series and another feather in its cap.
This circuit is another variation to the tracks that we’ve
been running so it’s a different discipline for the drivers.
It makes it more interesting for us and keeps us on or toes.
It’s all good.”
· Life in the Fast Lane: Close friends off the track
(if not on the golf course where they are constantly
challenging each other), Manning and A.J. Foyt IV will be
traveling together to Edmonton, Canada tomorrow. Manning
will be hitching a ride on the Gulfstream (G-III) jet that
A.J. Foyt IV and his girlfriend Casey Irsay will be using to
fly into Edmonton. It will be their first time to Edmonton,
and Foyt IV’s first time racing in Canada. Manning, who
raced in the 2003 Champ Car World Series, competed on the
street circuits in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver that
season. After the race, they are planning to stay over to go
fishing for walleye (among others) in the North Saskatchewan
River.
· Mid-Ohio performance: Manning and the team worked
together to give another strong performance despite a rocky
start when they qualified 21st. The team made some changes
to the car after qualifying which the driver really liked in
the race morning warm-up. Then their pit strategy to quickly
take advantage of the track drying out from the rain storm
enabled them to climb to second by lap six. Varying fuel
strategies and some untimely yellows came into play to
affect the final outcome, but Manning finished eighth for
his third straight top-10 finish and fifth top-10 of the
season. Manning moved up one spot in the point standings to
13th.
· Past Performances on road courses in 2008: Manning
qualified 11th at St. Pete and was challenging for sixth
when the paddle shift mechanism experienced problems,
dropping him to 13th. Earlier this month at Watkins Glen,
Manning posted his career best finish of second after
starting eighth. He had his worst start on a road course at
Mid-Ohio (21st) but quickly jumped into second by lap six
through pit strategy, and finished eighth.
· The Rexall Edmonton Indy which will be shown live
Saturday, July 26 at 5:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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