From Astonishing Crash Last Spring, Stunning Comeback by Mike Conway to Take the Race

Mike Conway--whose greatest exposure in racing came in a spectacular May Indy 500 crash that he miraculously survived--made a stunning pass of Ryan Briscoe with 14 laps remaining to win the 37th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Sunday.

Conway, who suffered a fractured back and lower left leg at Indiannapolis—the
only other race he had led before his Long Beach victory—had not finished better than 22nd in the first two races of the season. His day could have gone either way.

He qualified third, he overshot his pit when he locked up his brakes and fell to 22nd after Lap 30, and then found himself in a class of his own after a string of caution flags and restarts played out over 83 laps on the 1.97-mile street circuit.

It’s the second year in a row that team owner Michael Andretti has won the race. Last season Ryan Hunter-Reay won the event, and he was in position to win this year too, following Briscoe as the race entered its final stages. But a gearbox broke on Hunter-Reay was history.

Andretti’s emotions then ran the spectrum.

“It’s so difficult to pass here so I was happy to see Mike in the top six,” said Andretti,  a former driver who won his first and last race at Long Beach. “All of a sudden Ryan his this problem and I felt really bad for him. It was like, ‘Oh man, this is over.’ Then all of a sudden everyone was cheering. ‘What are they cheering about?’ Mike’s like boom going past Dario (Franchitti), then he’s past Briscoe. It was unbelievable.”

It capped an amazing comeback for Conway, who said he wasn’t sure if he would race again after the Indy crash when the car went into the catch fence. “Things like that can definitely stop your career, but I was determined to not let it,” he said. “This year, full of energy, all ready for the fight ahead. It’s a long season. To get a win in the third race back is awesome. Can’t thank Michael enough for believing in me, and the team for doing such a great job.”

Briscoe was stunned that Conway passed him coming out of Turn 5, and once the Englishman got the lead, he bolted. Conway won by 6.3 seconds.

“Conway was in a class of his own after the last restart,” said Franchitti, who finished third behind Briscoe and took the lead in the championship from pole-sitter Will Power, who finished 10th.

Trailing Franchitti were rookie James Hinchcliffe in fourth, Alex Tagliani, Oriol Servia, Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan and Power.

Power was headed to a much better day. He was running third when he was struck from behind by teammate Helio Castroneves in Turn 1 on a restart.

“Conway was lightning fast and I really had nothing for him at the end,” Briscoe said.

Nobody did.

RACE NOTES

Charlie Kimball, the California native who is racing despite being afflicted with diabetes, finished 24th after being involved in a crash on Lap 67. Kimball was punted from behind in an incident that included four cars.

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Conor  Daly won the Firestone Indy Lights Race Sunday that preceded the IndyCar race, taking the flag under caution in the 43-lap event. Daly, a rookie, led his Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammate Esteban Guerrieri to the line. Stefan Wilson of Andretti Autosport was third.

Daly began the race in fourth, but took first place when leader Josef Newgarden crashed on Lap 41.

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Brandon Davis of Huntington Beach, driving a Mustang Cobra, won the Pirelli World Challenge, a 50-minute race featuring sports cars.