Between 1988 and 1992 he worked as a crew chief for Chris Woods on Late Models at Riverside Park in Agawam, Massachusetts.
[1] In 1995, Manion and friend Tommy Baldwin, moved to North Carolina to further their racing career landing the job of general mechanics for the 41 car of Larry Hedrick Motorsports.
That team proceeded to win two championships, 12 victories with Martin Truex Jr. and three with Earnhardt Jr. Manion went on to receive the Crew Chief of the Year award.
In 2007, with Truex driving, the team claimed their first Pole Award, seven top-five finishes, 14 top-10s and their first Cup win at Dover International Speedway.
1 car (DEI had merged with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2009) and Manion remained the crew chief.
54 truck in 2018, which was fielded for Bo LeMastus, Justin Marks, Kyle Benjamin, and Chris Eggleston.
[6] Smith and Manion both returned for a second year in 2021 and won at Martinsville in October to clinch a spot in the Championship 4, where they would finish second in the standings.
On November 23, 2021, it was announced that Manion would be leaving GMS to be the crew chief for Spire Motorsports in their expansion into the Truck Series.
[9] In 2011, Manion fielded a Whelen Modified Tour car for Ryan Newman to run at New Hampshire International Speedway.
Manion and crew chief Mike LaRochelle were suspended from NASCAR regional touring series events for the remainder of 2011.