Ousted Target Chip Ganassi driver Darren Manning has proclaimed his shock and
surprise at being released mid-season by his team but has reassured his legions
of fans that he will be working towards getting back into the cockpit of a race
winning car before long.
source: crash.net The 30 year-old Harrogate born driver saw his 18-month tenure with TCGR come to an abrupt end on Tuesday morning during what he thought was just an ordinary team meeting with Ganassi's team director Mike Hull. Unbeknownst to Manning however was that moments before he stepped into Hull's office, Chip Ganassi had contacted Hull by phone to tell him that Manning would not be with the team this weekend at Michigan and would not have the option on his contract renewed for 2006. "It was a real shock when I discovered that I was surplus to requirements at TCG," said Manning in a statement released on Wednesday. "It was a dream come true to be chosen as a driver for one of the top teams in American motor racing, and I have enjoyed my time here, and scored some good results in the past eighteen months." After joining Ganassi's team shortly before the start of the 2004 season in the seat originally earmarked for the late Tony Renna, the former Formula 3, Formula 3000 and Champ Car driver finished just behind defending IRL Champion Scott Dixon in his first year with the team. Although an accident at the California Speedway meant he missed the final round of the Championship and dropped him behind Dixon in the overall standings, Manning secured a trio of fourth place finishes in a year where Ganassi's Dallara-Toyota package wasn't on a par with the Honda engines used by seven of the top nine finishers in that years' standings.
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