Darren Manning’s journey is a familiar one: He came to America after a successful run up the European racing ladder, spent seven years as an Indy car driver with the likes of A.J. Foyt and Chip Ganassi, and with more than 20 years of racing behind him, finally decided to hang up his helmet in 2010.

Like many racing drivers who step away from the sport, Manning’s ability to resist its allure lasted for a short period, and after a career spent as a driver-for-hire, the 39-year-old Englishman told RACER he’s working to make a comeback in another familiar capacity: As an owner/driver.

“My IndyCar career was tailing off – I did a couple of races after driving for A.J. Foyt, but nothing was really coming to fruition to stay in the series and I didn’t really have any other businesses outside of being a professional driver,” said Manning, who also served as a test driver for the Honda F1 team.

“One year I’m driving in the Indy 500 for Chip Ganassi and the next I was sitting on the couch, and that’s not the kind of stability you want, or as a husband and father, so that’s when I started looking at developing the business side for myself and that’s what I want to do by starting out as a team owner in the Pirelli World Challenge series. Being able to drive again is also my ambition, but establishing my own team is the main priority.”

According to Manning, exiting the sport and venturing into a business outside of racing provided invaluable lessons. It should help as he seeks the pieces necessary to enter one of the PWC’s higher classes.

“I moved from Indy and started a business in Baltimore, which went well and we sold that so I could move back to the Midwest and look to get back into racing – but do it with control over my own destiny, and that meant starting something of my own,” he said. “I was very lucky to start out as a kid with a dream and work my way to achieve some pretty incredible things, and being able to use that experience to start a team and work with drivers who want to get the best out of themselves, or want to be coached and guided to eventually move up to bigger series, is something that’s right for me.”

With sports car experience in the ALMS (LEFT, Marshall Pruett photo), Grand-Am and FIA GT, Manning hopes to use his prototype and tin-top experience to attract funded up-and-coming sports car drivers with a need for mentoring and guidance, and is talking to a few manufacturers about alliances in PWC. If his plan comes together, Manning would drive, coach, and share data as part of an academy program based out of Pickett Racing’s former Indianapolis base. Manning’s team is also comprised of many former Pickett Racing crew members.

“That’s what I’m working on right now and hopefully there’s a market out there,” he added. “I have a lot of contacts and former colleagues here in Indianapolis, we got together and decided it was the right time to put something together ourselves, and while it’s in the early stages, it’s picking up momentum. We’re at the stage now where we’re ready to start talking to drivers and manufacturers.

“And I like the World Challenge series because it’s an economical starting point and really gives you a fast education in GT racing. The races are short, as a driver you have to perform immediately, and it will benefit you as you move up to IMSA or maybe try open-wheel racing. There’s a lot to be learned in a series like this, which is why I think it’s a great place for us to start. I’ve done the entrepreneur thing, now I’ve come back to racing, and putting everything I have to offer into a team is what I wake up every day and work on. Next is to find the drivers who want to come along with us.”​