Backmarker Manning ruined Rahal’s great race

The softer Firestone tires at Milwaukee this year may have contributed to more marbles, which caught Rahal out and put him in the wall.

Jim Haines/IRL

A great performance turned ugly in a hurry for Graham Rahal as the 19-year-old oval-track newcomer crashed out much as he did a week earlier in the Indianapolis 500.

Rahal started second and was running third on the 130th lap when he went high around two lapped cars in the third turn, lost traction and slid into the outside wall.

"We were hanging there – that's the thing – and we were looking pretty darn good," said Rahal, who placed the blame on Darren Manning.

Manning was trying to pass Buddy Rice, and for Rahal to go around would have required a three-wide pass.

"I was being patient for 50 laps with those guys and they were blocking me the whole time," he said. "So I don't think it has anything to do with patience.

"The officials need to do a better job. If these guys are way off the pace, they need to park 'em. They're holding up the leaders and ruining a good show, I think."

Manning, though, saw the incident as a byproduct of a tough, lap-after-lap battle.

"Buddy was coming into the pits," Manning said. "I had to kind of go around the outside of him, and then Graham was trying to go around the outside of me, and there was nowhere to go in the marbles there." JSOnline.com