Back with Foyt Racing

Darren Manning returns to IRL IndyCar this year with the A.J. Foyt Racing squad having participated in both of the IRL Open Tests at Daytona and Homestead-Miami Speedway in the off season. Manning, who formerly raced alongside Scott Dixon at Ganassi Racing, is naturally looking forward to being back in action as the season kicks off this weekend at Homestead-Miami.

Darren Manning
“I'm eagerly anticipating this race because it's been a long winter and a long last year for me. Our testing went pretty good in the off season so I think we'll continue that progress over the race weekend. I'm glad the wait is finally over.”

“Miami-Homestead is not a standard shaped oval. Although the turns are similar at both ends they are different because of the winds. In turns one and two the cars get loose, and in turns three and four, they tend to push or understeer. It's a tough track to get a handle on. However, it will be good in the race because of the variable banking which means the different grooves have different angles of banking: 18-19-20 degrees, allowing for a lot of side-by-side racing. I think it's the only track like that.”

A.J. Foyt
“We had hoped to get in more testing but the weather worked against us. We made several trips to the wind tunnel to improve the aerodynamics and found some things that should help. It was productive. I look for our team to improve with every race. It's going to take some time but we're gaining.”

E.A.
Source A.J. Foyt Racing