Darren Manning Goes on Record with pressdog

Spend any time at all around the Indy Racing League's Darren Manning and you'll find yourself laughing.

Whether its calling out the Iron Hand of Justice in pit interviews, lingering in the bullpen to answer every last media question, busting out his colorful repertoire of Englandisms or busting up a driver's meeting -- Darren brings major color to the series.

So of course he's perfect for the anti-stiff-and-stale, pro-fan mission of pressdog.com.

Check below for Darren's take on accent maintenance, his Target days, a longing for "proper bacon," a fondness for double and triple exclamation marks and generally being "coomf-tuh-bl" in his own Yorkshireman skin. (Big ups to DRR PR operative Elizabeth Cannon for connecting me with Darren.)

pressdog: During your introduction press conference a few weeks ago you talked about getting the call late one afternoon from Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Does it usually happen that way? Kind of going about your business, maybe a vague sense that something may be going on, and then BAM, the call comes in?

Manning: Well not always!! You hope you're gonna get the call but most times you don't. You and your manager (if you have one!) have to do a lot of leg work before hand, and then if your in the right place and time and a situation comes up.... BAM

pressdog: Do you stress about a ride showing up and sit by the phone, or kind of just go about your business thinking if they call they call, or some of each?

Manning: I don't really stress about anything, really. I found that the phone always rings when you are least expecting!!! So I don't expect!!! I'm a certain driver with a certain experience level and portfolio and if someone needs what I bring, then they will call. I'm in a small group of drivers and there are only a small amount of opportunities for drivers like us, so I don't sit around waiting!!!

pressdog: We appreciate the color from your England-isms like "knackered" and "sorted" and using "post" instead of "mail" etc. Do you ever worry that you'll become all Americanized in vocabulary and accent? What sort of accent maintenance regimen do you follow?

Manning: Hahahaha cheers fella!!!! Na, I'm a true Yorkshireman, so I'll always stay a true Brit. I talk to my folks every day so they keep me on track. Also, I listen to English radio throughout the day and listen to English bands, so that also looks after my accent.

pressdog: Do the English drivers in the league (Justin Wilson, Dan Wheldon, Mike Conway, yourself) get together and hoist pints? Talk about Manchester United vs. Liverpool? Get all sixes and sevens? Is there any sort of British Camaraderie League?. (I imagine you have to let Dario in even though he's from Scotland.)

Manning: Well, not really. All the IRL drivers are pretty good friends, but we will all have a good laugh in driver meetings.

pressdog: What do you like most about road/street racing as a driver?

Manning: The fact that a driver can make a big difference in performance.

pressdog: Indy 500 Month of May -- What's your favorite part?

Manning: Race day on the grid, just before getting in the car

pressdog: What's the nuttiest thing you've been asked to sign?

Manning: Nothing crazy. The odd body part and car parts mainly

pressdog: Do you wake up screaming, thinking you are on fire (like Ricky Bobby) when you dream about your days at Target? What sort of memories do you have of that time?

Manning: Mainly frustration, (not quite screaming on fire but close!!) about how good the team was but we weren't getting results because of something out of our control!!! (pressdog note: that would be the super-pig Toyota engine.) And now look at them now its a level playing field!!!

pressdog: Who's the funnest driver in IndyCar?

Manning: Me and Foyt (pressdog note: We're not sure which Foyt)

pressdog: Who were drivers you looked up to when you were growing up?

Manning: Alan Prost was my hero, but loved Ayrton Senna also (but also hated him for always crashing prost!!!:) View a YouTube video of Prost vs. Senna -- in Japanese -- here.

pressdog: When you're in the U.S., what do you miss most about the U.K?

Manning: bacon sandwiches (with proper bacon!!)

pressdog: When you're in the U.K., what do you miss most about the U.S. (Fortunately pressdog.com is only just an Internet connection away wherever you are!)

Manning: Being able to get anything any size anytime anywhere!!

pressdog: Where do you think your driving game has improved most over the last few years?

Manning: Not sure really -- a little of everything.

pressdog: A hockey-like brawl between Milka Duno and Danica Patrick -- worth the price of admission?

Manning: I have pre-paid mine already just in case.

Comments

[LR]

I love that guy! And he drove a pretty darn good race at St. Pete too. I hope he does well.

[Carrie]

Have not yet read my love, er, driver's comments but I wanted to say thankyouthankyouthankyou, p-dog, for this. After Wheldon, Darren was the next IRL driver I took on as mine. Something about cheeky Englishmen...

Anyways... *off to read*

[Mike Krapfl]

Props to pressdog.com. Darren is great fun. I hope we can see him in an IndyCar all season long.

[Carrie]

He's insane even via email!! (extra exclamation point shout-out)

P-dog, you should have asked him if he still holds the world land-speed record for driving backwards.

[The Speedgeek]

Nice work. That guy rules. I've been a permanent Manning fan since they did a "day in the life of" segment on him during a ChampCar race a few years ago. The complete contents of his apartment were: fridge containing only condiments, a table with only a laptop on it, a small TV about 4 feet away from the table/laptop, a giant golf bag in the corner with about 50 clubs in it, and a roll-out putting green in the middle of the floor. No wall decoration, maybe not even a bed. That's my kind of race driver.

[Pat W]

Englandisms, ha! Great answers to some excellent questions, Darren is a great bloke and I really hope he has a successful year. He seems to have retained his accent more than any other driver in the series!

I know what he means with the bacon, not that I'm biased, I work for a bacon company!

[Andy]

Brilliant stuff. We were lucky enough to interview him at Silverstone last season for britsonpole.com and he was excellent value - gave us loads of time, answered frankly (even though his Mum was sitting next to us) and was terrific fun to be with. We were terrified afterwards that our write-up had contributed to him losing the Foyt drive, though we couldn't logically see how it could have. Terrific to see him back in the series!

[pressdog]

Good STOOF, Andy. Here's the links to BritsOnPole.com's interviews with Danger Mouse: http://tinyurl.com/3gsmsg
http://tinyurl.com/3gsmsg