Conway Hopes to Repeat Magic of Long Beach

Mike Conway had his share of pain in 2010. Namely, his season ended when he suffered a broken leg and back from a spectacular crash in the Indianapolis 500.

In his IZOD IndyCar Series career, that lowlight was his highlight.

Then came the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach last season, and Conway was the surprising winner, finishing ahead of drivers for the two power teams, Roger Penske's Ryan Briscoe and Chip Ganassi's Dario Franchitti.

Fast forward a year, and Conway is back at Long Beach as the defending champion. However, he's no longer driving for team owner Michael Andretti, but A.J. Foyt.

His victory a year ago came after finishing outside the top 20 in his first two races for Andretti, so his victory at the Beach—a third place at Sonoma in 2009 was his only previous top five finish—was a stunner.

But it was also one of only four top 10 finishes last season for the 28-year-old Brit, and now he's at the center of Foyt's hopeful program. There's some reason for optimism; Conway finished seventh in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, a rare top 10 finish on a road or street course for Foyt's program.

Conway's appearance in the Fast 6 qualifying—which will take place today to set the field for the race Sunday—two weeks ago was the first time a Foyt entry had done so since 2007. Conway qualified fourth.

He's hoping to bring Foyt to Victory Lane at Long Beach for the first time. The legendary owner's best performance there came in 1994 when driver Eddie Cheever finished fourth under CART sanction, and Vitor Meira finished ninth last season.

His chances are somewhat improved. Conway's ABC Supply Dallara will be powered by Honda engines; all the Chevrolet engines will be penalized 10 starting spots on the grid because of an illegal engine change.

During Friday's practice, Conway was one of only three drivers to break a 90 mph average on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile course. Conway averaged 90.55 mph and completed the circuit in 1 minute 18.23 seconds, behind Marco Andretti (1:17.22) and Takuma Sato (1:17.94).

Those times don't figure to reflect what will happen today during practice and qualifying or the race on Sunday. As Andretti said of the practice Friday, it was too dry for rain slicks and too wet for racing slicks.

Rain essentially scrapped the second practice scheduled for Friday and only two cars went on track, Ganassi drivers Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti. Dixon crashed almost immediately.

Conway was at the media luncheon Thursday in advance of the 38th dash through the streets of Long Beach and talked about the track, the event, and driving for a pair of legends.

Here's the schedule for the rest of the weekend:

Saturday, April 14

7 a.m. - Gates open
7:15 a.m. - PWC Practice
8 a.m. - FIL Practice
8:55 a.m. - Team Drifting Challenge
10:25 a.m. - IndyCar Practice
11:40 a.m. - Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race
12:30 p.m. - ALMS Driver Autograph Session in Lifestyle Expo
12:55 p.m. - FIL Qualifying
2 p.m. - IndyCar Qualifying and Firestone Fast Six
3:55 p.m. - ALMS Pre-Race
4:30 p.m. - Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series Race (2 hours)
6:45 p.m. - Tecate Light Rock-N-Roar Concert Starring Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Sunday, April 15

7 a.m. - Gates open
8 a.m. - FIL Practice
8:25 a.m. - PWC Qualifying
9:15 a.m. - IndyCar Practice
10:45 a.m. - Firestone Indy Lights Race
12:30 p.m. - IndyCar Pre-Race Ceremonies
1:15 p.m. (Approx.) - Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach IZOD IndyCar Series Race (85 laps)
3:40 p.m. - Team Drifting Challenge
4:15 p.m. - Pirelli World Challenge Race (1 hour)

Schedule subject to change without notice.