Kevin Manion, Martin Truex Jr. admit 2008 was disappointing
By David Exum - SceneDaily Staff
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Kevin Manion doesn't pull any punches when it comes to explaining why his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team and driver Martin Truex Jr. didn't make this year's 12-driver field for NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup.
The DEI team took a devastating 150-point hit from NASCAR when the No. 1 Chevrolet failed a template inspection before the July 5 Coke Zero 400 and never quite regained its footing as Manion and car chief Gary Putnam served a six-race suspension. Manion's leadership was sorely missed at the race track.
"That was the end of our season, right there," Manion says.
Heading into that race, Truex was close to cracking the top 12 in the series standings after finishing fourth in the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway June 29. He left that race in 14th place, just 71 points outside 12th spot.
"[Daytona] was the week to gain momentum," Manion recalls. "We were coming off a good finish at [New Hampshire], and we had a good car for Daytona. We had all the right stuff to go down there and have a good showing, and we got the wind knocked out of our sails. It's the reason why we didn't make the Chase."
By the time Manion's suspension was over – he returned at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 14 for the final race before the start of the Chase – Truex was 17th in the series standings, with no chance of making the 12-man cut.
"The 2008 season has been pretty disappointing, to be honest with you," says Manion, a native of Boylston, Mass., who has worked at DEI since 1997. "We just never got into a good rhythm of racing. We just didn't have enough consistency throughout each race."
Manion, who picked up the nickname “Bono” in high school, has enjoyed a lengthy history with Truex. They won two championships in what is now known as the Nationwide Series in 2004-05 before moving to the Cup series together in 2006. In the their three seasons together in NASCAR’s top series, they’ve put together one victory, one Chase appearance, 12 top-five and 31 top-10 finishes.
After their 11th-place finish in the 2007 Chase, hopes were high for even better results this season, but it wasn’t to be. Truex had three top-five and 11 top-10 finishes and wound up 15th in the final 2008 standings.
“We’ve had trials and tribulations,” Manion said. “Every crew chief thinks nobody tries harder than his team, but I believe that’s true for our team. We work extremely hard. Martin has been a great friend, just sitting down with him, and I am sure the company asked if we needed a change in leadership. He’s said: ‘Bono is my man, and this is my team. There’s no reason we can’t win championships with the group we have.’”
Truex remains pleased with the efforts of Manion and the entire No. 1 team.
“Obviously, the season was somewhat of a disappointment to us because we didn’t make the Chase,” he says. “We really felt like we had the talent to make the Chase again this year. Unfortunately, we just had some bad luck throughout the season, and that kind of threw us off course.”
“I can say that I am proud of the way that my crew chief, Kevin Manion, and the rest of the guys on this No. 1 team kept fighting until the end of the season. We kept racing hard, and I’m sure that mentality will carry over to next season.”
The recent merger of DEI and Chip Ganassi Racing does not appear to have jeopardized Manion's tenure as Truex's crew chief, and he remains focused on getting the No. 1 team ready for the 2009 season.
“Both companies are working extremely hard to determine all of the facts,” Manion says. “We’re business as usual right now. There’s plenty to do without those decisions being made.”
-SceneDaily
