INDIANAPOLIS May 23 -- Rain has
pretty much been the story for this month of
May and it became the story on Carb Day for
our final practice for the Indianapolis 500.
We did get some time on the track with our
ABC Supply cars and both Darren Manning and
Jeff Simmons were happy with their cars with
the little bit of running that we did get
in. They liked the balance on their cars
with the downforce that we added for the
race.
In qualifying trim, the cars have much less
downforce because only one car is on the
track at the time. In the race, you need a
lot more because of all the turbulence
created by 33 cars running – it makes for a
lot of “dirty air.” The trick is to put in
enough downforce to make the car handle in
traffic but not so much that it becomes a
sled out there—easy to drive but slow down
the straightaway.
The more downforce you have, the more drag
you have. Finding the balance between the
two is the secret to going fast here.
With the laps that our drivers did do, we
got a check on our fuel numbers and scrubbed
in some tires. Because the track conditions
were so much different (cool and overcast)
on Carb Day from what we will have on race
day (hot and sunny), we’ll have to make some
educated guesses.
The weather will also affect our gear ratio
choices, especially if it’s windy. So as
much as I would have liked to have run more
today, I know that we would have had to
change some things depending on the weather
conditions Sunday.
I feel good about both the No. 14 and the
No. 41 cars. They are performing very well
and my drivers are happy with them. Of
course anything can happen so I hope we all
feel just as good after the race as we do
going in.
In at Last By
A.J. Foyt
With both of my ABC Supply race cars safely
in the field for the Indy 500 as well as my
grandson A.J. Foyt IV, I am breathing a
little easier today.
When second day qualifying rained out a week
ago Sunday, only 11 cars were in the field
because of the new qualifying format…and we
weren’t one of the 11. On Saturday,
positions 12 through 33 were filled.
The rainy weather at Indy has played havoc
with our track time so it’s been a tough
month for me and my driver Darren Manning.
We just couldn’t make him happy in the 14
car—at least until it counted—in qualifying.
On Saturday, Darren was on pace to be the
fastest qualifier of the day but he blipped
the throttle on that final lap which put him
in the 14th position for his best career
start in the 500 (although not mine). He
said he was being over cautious because he
knew he was in the 500. He qualified the No.
14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda/Firestone car at
an average speed of 222.430 mph and starts
in the middle of row five.
I decided to put Jeff Simmons in my other
car -- the No. 41 ABC Supply car for the
second weekend of qualifying. Jeff drove for
me at Indy in the Indy Pro Series race in
2004 and finished second. I knew he could do
a good job for me on short notice.
I have to admit I goofed up with Jeff’s
first time out to qualify—I forgot to throw
the green flag which signals the starter
that we are going to make an attempt. You
wave a green flag if you are happy with the
warm-up lap speed. If your driver doesn’t
take the green flag, an attempt isn’t
charged against the car. That used to be a
big deal with the old format because you
only had three tries the whole month to make
the field! Now you get three tries a day.
I was getting congratulated on Darren’s
just-completed qualifying run and lost track
of the warm-up laps that Jeff had run. I
told the official to give Jeff the green and
he said it was too late. Huh? The starter
gave him the yellow and Jeff pulled in,
wondering I’m sure why I hadn’t given him
the green.
I told them to put him back in the
qualifying line. He got through a little
quicker than I thought because no one else
was ahead of him. I almost missed him again!
I saw the car go by on its warm-up lap and
said, hell that’s my car, and I’m trying to
beat it down to turn four to give the
official the green. Mr. B, who does our
tires and is always with me to give the
green, had stayed there (from Darren) and he
did wave it after getting the ok on the
radio.
Jeff’s run was a little disappointing
because he couldn’t carry the gear we put
in—it didn’t spool up enough. He qualified
the car at a speed of 221.103 mph for 24th
on the grid. I thought about re-qualifying
him but the track conditions were not
good—it was really windy. Taking a qualified
car out of the 500 to gain a couple rows on
a day when four cars crashed, well I just
thought better of it. We’ll have the car
working good for him on race day and I’m
sure he’ll be up near the front in no time.
Another guy whom I’m sure will be making his
way to the front is my grandson Anthony.
He’s had a tough month, and most of it
wasn’t of his doing. He had to bump his way
into the field Sunday. He did and was the
fastest qualifier on Bump Day—what’s Bump
Day without a Foyt in there to make it
exciting? He’ll start 31st which is inside
on the last row.
Monday my crew was busy tearing down both of
our cars to get them ready for Friday’s Carb
Day, which is the final practice before the
race.
That morning all 33 drivers flew to New York
City to pose for a picture for a pr stunt.
All I can say is that I’m glad I retired
from driving when I did. I bet the Indy P.R.
staff is glad too.
A.J. Foyt
Participates in Houston’s First Global Image
Campaign
HOUSTON – Ask two dozen Houstonians
what is special about their hometown, and
you’re likely to get two dozen different
answers. The Greater Houston Convention and
Visitors Bureau (GHCVB) is leveraging the
city’s diverse offerings in Houston’s first
global image campaign. The “My Houston”
campaign features anecdotes from local
celebrities with nationally recognized
names.
After nearly nine months of contacting
celebrities in 2007, the GHCVB has a roster
of about 25 participants in the campaign.
The series presents the many facets of
Houston to a potential visitor. There are so
many different “Houstons” to see—visitors
can take some advice from some of Houston’s
best-known residents including the first
four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500
A.J. Foyt.
“Houston is where I was born and raised,”
says Foyt. “It’s where my kids were born and
raised—it’s home. I have travelled all over
the country, to Europe, Australia and Asia
but I love coming home to Houston. It’s
where I belong—it’s where my heart is.”
The ad featuring Houston’s most famous race
driver offers his unique perspective on his
beloved city, including his favorite
restaurants and a recounting of his 200 mph
drive on the 610 Freeway. It is appearing in
this month’s Continental In-Flight magazine
as well as the May 19th edition of the Wall
Street Journal and the May 23rd edition of
USA Today.
Following are a sampling of comments by some
of Houston’s notable residents including:
• President George and Barbara Bush:
“There is no other city in the world where
the hearts are bigger and where everyone
knows how to be a good neighbor. Houston is
and always will be where we call home.”
• Dr. Denton Cooley, President and
Surgeon-In-Chief, Texas Heart Institute:
“The spirit of citizenry in this city is
unique. People feel possessive about
Houston. They don’t just live here, they own
it. The philanthropic generosity stems from
that mentality.”
• Larry Kellner, CEO, Continental Airlines:
“In addition to being an important business
center and a great place to raise a family,
Houston has a thriving art scene and theater
district, great shopping, superb school
systems and educational opportunities and
many top restaurants. We fly all over the
world, but we only come home to one city,
and that’s Houston, Texas.”
Other participants in the campaign include
singer Beyonce Knowles, CBS
commentator Jim Nantz, Grey’s Anatomy
actor Chandra Wilson, PBS TV host
Bill Stubbs, rock band Blue October,
Houston Dynamo soccer star Brian Ching,
Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis,
Project Runway winner Chloe Dao,
country music stars Clay Walker and
Clint and Lisa Hartman Black, NBA
Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, NFL
Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak,
heavyweight champ George Foreman,
entertainers Hilary and Haylie Duff,
PGA golfer KJ Choi, All My Children
actor Leven Rambin, Latin Grammy
winner Oscar de la Rosa and Grammy
winning Gospel star Yolanda Adams.
Indy 500
Update - May 15
INDIANAPOLIS May 15, 2008 – Darren Manning
and Jeff Simmons were among 35 drivers who
took advantage of the week’s first full day
of practice at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway Thursday. They turned 46 and 39
laps respectively preparing to qualify for
the 92nd Indianapolis 500.
"It was nice to get some laps in,” said
Manning. “We had a lot of time with the rain
to sort out what we needed. We made some
good changes and it's the most comfortable
I've been in the car balance-wise. We
stopped early to work through what we've
done so far. We have a lot of data to go
through with both cars."
Manning had a fast lap of 220.723 miles per
hour in the No. 14 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt
Racing entry. He was 24th on the speed chart
and 13th among those drivers who have yet to
qualify for the “500.”
Simmons had his second run in the No. 41 ABC
Supply Dallara/Honda, completing 39 laps
with a quick lap of 221.370, 15th on the
speed charts.
"We've been making progress all day,” said
Simmons. “The car is much better from
yesterday, but it was great to get out then
so we could figure out what needed to be
changed. We made adjustments all day. The
car is more consistent and I'm confident
we'll find more speed."
Practice continues Friday. Qualifications to
fill positions 12 through 33 will be
Saturday and Bump Day is Sunday. The 92nd
Indianapolis 500 will be on Sunday, May 25.
A.J. Foyt
Hires Jeff Simmons To Drive No. 41 ABC
Supply Car at Indy
INDIANAPOLIS May 12, 2008 – A.J. Foyt
has hired Jeff Simmons to drive the second
Foyt Racing entry in the Indianapolis 500 as
a teammate to Darren Manning, driver of the
No. 14 ABC Supply Honda-powered Dallara.
Simmons will get in the No. 41 ABC Supply
car for the first time on Wednesday when the
track re-opens for practice.
“It’s great to be back with A.J.’s team,”
said Simmons. “I’m looking forward to
working with A.J. and Darren and the whole
Foyt team. Darren can help me get up to
speed quickly and hopefully I can contribute
something to the team as we get ready for
qualifying next weekend.
“A.J. is taking it on himself to put me in
this car so I just want to do the best job I
can for his team.”
“I’m glad to be working with Jeff again,”
said Foyt. “I like the way he drives and the
way he hustles the car pretty hard which is
what I look for in young drivers.”
Simmons, 31, drove for Foyt in the Indy Pro
Series in May, 2004 when he finished second
in the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor
Speedway. It was that same month that Foyt
gave Simmons an Indy car to do his rookie
test at the Speedway which allowed him to
compete in that year’s Indy 500 driving for
Mo Nunn. He finished 16th in his debut after
starting 29th as a second weekend qualifier.
Simmons drove for Team Rahal in 2006 and
2007 before being replaced by Ryan Hunter-Reay
in July. In 25 starts in the IndyCar Series
he has posted 11 top-10 finishes and has led
eight laps, including a lap in last years’
Indy 500. His best finish is sixth, which
came last year at Texas Motor Speedway where
he led twice.
Rain on Sunday washed out Second Day
Qualifying and practice at the Brickyard,
setting up next Saturday as the day when
teams will attempt to qualify for the
remaining 22 positions, including Manning,
whose qualifying attempt on Pole Day was
aborted. Once the field is set next
Saturday, the bumping will begin on Sunday
as non-qualifiers will try to bump their way
into the field by qualifying faster than the
slowest car already in the field.
The Indianapolis 500 will be broadcast live
on ABC-TV starting with the pre-race show at
12 noon, Sunday May 25th. The race is set to
start at 1 p.m.
Indy 500
Update
INDIANAPOLIS May 10, 2008 - Darren Manning’s
first attempt to qualify for the 92nd
Running of the Indianapolis 500 ended in an
aborted run. The ABC Supply team brought the
No. 14 Dallara/Honda car back to the garage
and made some changes to the set-up.
They returned to the track in the afternoon
when it was opened up for practice. Those
runs were in the 220 mph range so Manning
brought the car back in several times to
make additional changes--all to no avail.
“We were making progress this morning, we
ran 223s comfortably in practice,” said
Manning. “On my qualifying run, it was a bit
loose on the first lap and really loose on
the second lap so I pulled in and we began
chasing the set-up and chasing changing
track conditions. We found some good bits
but were never able to quite put it all
together at the same time. We’ll try again
tomorrow.”
Qualifying for positions 12 – 22 begins at
12 noon on Sunday. Second Day Qualifying
will be broadcast live from noon-2 p.m. and
5-6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 11 on ESPN2.
INDIANAPOLIS May 8, 2008
- Rain has washed out the activities the
past two days at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
but Darren Manning did get on track when
practice opened on Tuesday for the 92nd
running of the Indy 500.
Manning saw a top speed of 221.314 miles per
hour on his last lap of the day in the No.
14 ABC Supply Co. entry. He turned just 37
laps on the famed two-and-a-half-mile oval
in advance of Pole Day qualifying this
weekend.
"We're still fighting the car a little bit,"
Manning said. "But, I think the speed is
going to be there, because I'm nowhere near
comfortable in the car and we haven't even
started trimming out yet.
"We're still getting quite good speeds,
really; maybe three or four miles an hour
off the top speeds. I'm really, really happy
with how fast the car is, but it's just not
giving me a very good feeling out there."
Manning said team owner A.J. Foyt, the
legendary four-time Indianapolis 500 winner,
makes a special effort at the Speedway.
"This is a brand new car we brought here for
Indy," Manning said. "We did our first run
and it was not very nice to start with. (The
car) wasn't enabling me to do anything with
it, so we came back in to the pits and got
to working on it.
"We had a good last hour and a half in the
day and found a bit more speed out of it,"
he added. "I think we got some good
directions for where we need to go the rest
of the week, and fortunately we've got lots
of testing time."
Weather conditions promise to improve for
Fast Friday and Pole Day qualifying where
the fastest 11 qualifiers will be locked
into the grid.
By
A.J. Foyt
