Race Report – Nashville
LEBANON, Tenn. July 15, 2007—“That was the best race
we ran all year,” said A.J. Foyt, speaking of the
performances of Darren Manning and the ABC Supply team in
the Firestone 200 at Nashville Superspeedway Sunday
afternoon. The race was originally scheduled to run Saturday
night but was postponed due to heavy rain.
Manning started 17th and finished ninth in a race that had
little attrition and even less passing for position on the
banked, 1.33 mile concrete track. It was his third top-ten
finish in the last four races.
 Foyt
commended his ABC Supply pit crew who gave Manning three
flawless stops, including the first one where the Brit
climbed from 17th to 12th (due in part to not needing any
changes on the car).
“I’m really pleased,” said Manning afterwards. “We threw a
set-up on for qualifying which turned out good but we didn’t
know how it’d be on the long runs. It was really good. I
could stay close to the car ahead and take advantage of a
mistake.”
Manning did just that when Vitor Meira and Tomas Scheckter
were trying to lap Sarah Fisher. The ensuing traffic jam saw
Manning sweep past all on the low side to go from 12th to
10th.
 “The
ABC Supply crew gave me good stops,” Manning added. Indeed,
he was able to either gain or maintain track position which
was key because two of the three stops were under green flag
conditions.
The ninth place finish was the best ever for the Foyt team
at Nashville Superspeedway, which Foyt characterized as “our
worst track on the circuit. We’ve never been able to get a
handle on it.” Up until race day, it appeared that nothing
had changed as the team struggled in all of the practices
before qualifying.
“We threw everything at it but the kitchen sink,” said Foyt.
“When it came time to qualify, we decided to throw that in
too. It was the first set-up that Darren liked all weekend.”
On the start, Manning dropped to last as there was a
jumble-up on the first lap. However, he recovered and passed
Fisher for 17th in short order and was keeping pace with the
pack when Tony Kanaan spun on lap 35 while lapping Fisher.
That yellow triggered the first round of pit stops wherein
the ABC Supply crew delivered in 8.1 seconds, putting the
No. 14 car in position to snare another top-10 finish.
Ironically, Fisher was also involved in Manning losing a lap
to the winner Scott Dixon. Manning was trying to lap her
going into turn one. Unaware of his presence, she came down
forcing him to the apron which had marbles. Marbles are the
bits of rubber debris from the tires which collect outside
the groove. When a car ventures outside the groove, the
marbles adhere to the car’s hot tires, lessening their
traction. By the time Manning gathered it up, Dixon snuck
past to put him a lap down.
“I was a little disappointed to lose a lap to Dixie because
of lapping Sarah-- I got in the marbles,” said Manning. “But
she had a handful today [trying to run hard and stay out of
faster cars’ way].”
Drivers complained that it would take four or five laps to
clean off the build-up on their tires if they got out of the
groove even slightly.
Following Dixon across the line were Dario Franchitti,
Danica Patrick (tying her career best finish), Sam Hornish,
Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Scott Sharp, Dan Wheldon,
Manning and Vitor Meira. Manning is still 13th in the point
standings but he has closed on 12th place holder Buddy Rice.
The IndyCar Series moves to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for
its first ever race in Ohio. The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio
will be televised live Sunday, July 22 starting at 1:30 pm
eastern on ABC-TV.
Notes & Quotes: Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville
Superspeedway
Darren Manning: No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda
 ·
Darren Manning on racing at Nashville: “It’s an interesting
track with it being concrete instead of asphalt which we
usually race on. The concrete surface makes it a little more
challenging to set up the car. It’s more like a flat short
track in that it takes more handling than a normal
superspeedway. We’re getting a better handle on what I want
from the car so hopefully that will make this weekend go
smoothly. ”
· Watkins Glen performance: Manning was running in the top
ten for nearly the entire race and was poised for a strong
finish but a bruised rib sustained before the race weekend
proved to be more wearing than he anticipated. Manning was
unsure how his rib became bruised but surmised it happened
while sleeping. He had to use his oval track seat (which
provides less support for the Glen’s fast right turns)
instead of his road course seat – it had created too much
pressure on his tender spot. Manning downplayed the pain but
it took its toll on the talented Brit who dropped from
seventh to tenth after the last pitstop. He eventually
finished ninth.
· Foyt’s USAC Silver Crown team will be competing this
Friday (the 13th!) at Chicagoland Speedway where the series
joins the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series. J.J. Yeley,
who will be competing in the NASCAR events there, will also
drive the No. 14 Greer Special/ABC Supply Chevy for the
second time this season. The No. 14 is currently third in
the points with drivers Tracy Hines and Bobby East snaring
two wins. Yeley was leading in his first drive for Foyt at
Darlington when he scraped the wall ending his race. Pablo
Donoso, of Santiago, Chile, will be in the No.11 ABC Supply
Chevy. The No.11 is eighth in the points but Donoso is sixth
in the driver standings.
· Fleming Roofing of Kennesaw, GA 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. Sean and
Erica Fleming 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.
· Past performances at Nashville: The Foyt team’s best start
and finish at Nashville is 10th with Donnie Beechler in
2001. The Foyt team had a particularly tough year in 2002
when all three of its cars—driven by Airton Dare, Greg Ray
and Eliseo Salazar—were eliminated due to accidents. Driving
for Chip Ganassi, Manning has had mixed results. He finished
fourth in 2004 but was eliminated in 2005 in an accident
with Tony Kanaan who was trying to put a lap on Manning just
after halfway. He placed 20th after starting ninth.
The Firestone Indy 200 will be shown live at 7:30 p.m.
eastern time Saturday evening, July 14th on ESPN
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