A Sign of Things to Come
By A.J. Foyt

Judging by the showing we had in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, our work over the winter is beginning to pay off. Darren Manning and my ABC Supply team’s performance also showed what I love and hate about racing—its highs and lows. One minute we were looking at a great finish in a real tough race, the next moment we were just looking to finish.

Manning drove a helluva race following a good weekend of practice and qualifying in the ABC Supply Dallara/Honda. The No. 14 car was, as my English driver with his funny expressions says, ‘at the sharp end of the grid.’

This was no mean feat because he was the only driver on the grid who hadn’t raced in St. Pete last year; it’s been two years since his first and last IRL IndyCar race on a street course. And this year he was working with a new team. The guys (and gal) who switched teams at the end of last year didn’t run nearly as strong as Manning although I must say Buddy Rice looked pretty good at Dreyer-Reinbold Racing.

Darren looked great. He started fifth and stayed in the top five--running third at times--throughout the race around the 1.8-mile street circuit. Physically, it is the toughest race of the season because the cars are really hard to drive over the bumps and through the turns, especially when you’re pressing for that last couple mph of speed.

Darren’s in great shape but the only way to get in racing shape is by racing. All the workouts in the world can’t develop the muscles you use when you race. And it’s different from oval tracks to street courses which are the worst on a driver. The courses are bumpier, the turns are tighter and some are off-camber (making it worse) so the stresses are greater. I guess I’m saying that a driver really gets beaten up. And when they are running a hot pace, all of that gets magnified.

Darren’s slight mistake while running fourth ahead of a hard-pressing Tony Kanaan had big consequences. He spun three-quarters of the way through the race. His hands were blistered from the heavy steering and his feet were numb from the thousand-plus shifts around the 14-turn course. He said he nearly caught it but couldn’t hold onto the car.

Once the corner workers pushed him off, he returned to the race a lap down, passed the cars which were on his lap and finished 12^th. And as much as Darren may be kicking himself for the error, I’m very happy with his performance. To some people this might sound stupid but if we have to crash, I’d much rather see my car crash when the guy’s running hard with the leaders instead of struggling in the back.  I know he’s giving 110% and there’s no margin for error.

There’s no doubt about it, Darren and the crew gave the other teams a run for their money. They knew we were there. And I’m telling you we will be there again. Our team has made changes and we are seeing the results. I’m sure there will be races when we will make mistakes, either on pit stops or set-ups, but we have turned a corner.

I was especially happy that ABC Supply had a big presence there too. Executives from the company including founder and CEO Ken Hendricks and his wife Diane who is the company’s vice-president were on hand to see it along with Keith Rozolis, the VP of marketing. There’s nothing like seeing it in person because TV just doesn’t do justice to Indy car racing.

Our next race is at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan April 21^st. We’ll be heading over there on April 16^th (it takes a day just to get there). I hope you’ll tune in to watch on ESPN on Saturday, April 21. The action starts at 3:30 p.m.

In Manning, we have a driver who we can work with and eventually win with. So for me, St. Pete was not a case of what could have been as much as it’s a case of what can be.