The IndyCar Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach offered up its share of every kind or racing action.
Heartbreaking late-race mechanical failures, accidents between teammates, amazing passes (on a track where passing is supposed to be nearly impossible), smart tire strategy … and most important, a driver nearly crippled in a high-speed crash last season got his first IndyCar victory.
Andretti Autosport driver Michael Conway surprised everybody by coming from the middle of the pack to suddenly be taking third on a restart on lap 70 of the 85-lap race.
He surprised everyone again as he passed three-time champion Dario Franchitti, to take second. People were perhaps a bit less surprised when he pulled the same out-braking maneuver on Ryan Briscoe to take the lead, two laps later.
When Conway pulled away from the field to cross the finish line six seconds ahead, everyone had to wonder how he had saved his car and tires ‘til the end … and why no one had noticed this phenomenal driver before.
Conway handled his run to the front with admirable maturity. “As soon as I got in the lead I was thinking about winning already. I knew I just needed to forget about it and get on with the job at hand,” Conway told Versus TV.
Conway is not new to IndyCar. He started driving here in 2009, after winning the British F3 championship and a couple of years in GP2. Driving for Dreyer & Reinbold, Conway earned a top-five and three top-tens in 2009.
In 2010, Conway’s career and life nearly came to an end as his car became airborne at 200 mph on the final lap of the Indy 500. The horrific accident left the young British driver with a compound fracture of the left leg and torn ligaments and tendons in both legs.
“Initially I saw the injuries I had, and I just wasn’t sure when I'd get back, Conway told Indycar.com. “Yeah, things like that can definitely stop your career. But I was just determined to not let it, determined to get back, back to fitness and back in a car.”
Conway signed with AA just before the start of the 2011 season, and while he drove well, he finished badly: 23rd and 22nd, after getting caught in accidents in the first two races.
Heartbreaking late-race mechanical failures, accidents between teammates, amazing passes (on a track where passing is supposed to be nearly impossible), smart tire strategy … and most important, a driver nearly crippled in a high-speed crash last season got his first IndyCar victory.
Andretti Autosport driver Michael Conway surprised everybody by coming from the middle of the pack to suddenly be taking third on a restart on lap 70 of the 85-lap race.
He surprised everyone again as he passed three-time champion Dario Franchitti, to take second. People were perhaps a bit less surprised when he pulled the same out-braking maneuver on Ryan Briscoe to take the lead, two laps later.
When Conway pulled away from the field to cross the finish line six seconds ahead, everyone had to wonder how he had saved his car and tires ‘til the end … and why no one had noticed this phenomenal driver before.
Conway handled his run to the front with admirable maturity. “As soon as I got in the lead I was thinking about winning already. I knew I just needed to forget about it and get on with the job at hand,” Conway told Versus TV.
Conway is not new to IndyCar. He started driving here in 2009, after winning the British F3 championship and a couple of years in GP2. Driving for Dreyer & Reinbold, Conway earned a top-five and three top-tens in 2009.
In 2010, Conway’s career and life nearly came to an end as his car became airborne at 200 mph on the final lap of the Indy 500. The horrific accident left the young British driver with a compound fracture of the left leg and torn ligaments and tendons in both legs.
“Initially I saw the injuries I had, and I just wasn’t sure when I'd get back, Conway told Indycar.com. “Yeah, things like that can definitely stop your career. But I was just determined to not let it, determined to get back, back to fitness and back in a car.”
Conway signed with AA just before the start of the 2011 season, and while he drove well, he finished badly: 23rd and 22nd, after getting caught in accidents in the first two races.
In fact, it looked as if Conway would fare poorly in this race as well, as a pit-stop foul-up cost him many places early in the race. But the canny Brit saved his tires until the end, and knowing his car was particularly good on restarts, he bided his time and then pounced.
“There was a slight mistake on the pit stop—my mistake—I thought our day might be done, but I just had to hang in there and push all the way,” said Conway.
“On the restarts the car was awesome—it just came to life. Those guys [Franchitti and Briscoe] were struggling to get temperature in their tires and my car was good to go.”
Conway showed remarkable patience as he worked his way through the field.
“It would have been easy to start overdriving the car and try to make moves that really weren’t there,” he explained. “I had to make the right moves and hang in there, keep it clean, and push when I had to.”
“There was a slight mistake on the pit stop—my mistake—I thought our day might be done, but I just had to hang in there and push all the way,” said Conway.
“On the restarts the car was awesome—it just came to life. Those guys [Franchitti and Briscoe] were struggling to get temperature in their tires and my car was good to go.”
Conway showed remarkable patience as he worked his way through the field.
“It would have been easy to start overdriving the car and try to make moves that really weren’t there,” he explained. “I had to make the right moves and hang in there, keep it clean, and push when I had to.”
Next: Wrecks, Mechanical Failures Stop Good Runs
Wrecks, Mechanical Failures Stop Good Runs
While Conway came from nowhere to win, some of the front-runners got knocked back, or out. For most of the race either Penske’s Will Power or Ryan Briscoe led the race with defending winner Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport in second, waiting for his chance.
Will Power led from the pole until the first caution, when Ryan Briscoe used tire strategy to get to the front. Briscoe started on the harder Black tires and switched to Reds when everyone else went the other way, giving him better grip in the middle laps and letting him take the lead.
Ryan Hunter-Reay ran second, hounding first Power and then Briscoe, waiting for the slightest mistake. The AA driver finally got to lead when Briscoe pitted on lap 54, but only until RHR pitted on lap 58. Briscoe resumed the lead, just in time for a caution on lap 62.
Will Power led from the pole until the first caution, when Ryan Briscoe used tire strategy to get to the front. Briscoe started on the harder Black tires and switched to Reds when everyone else went the other way, giving him better grip in the middle laps and letting him take the lead.
Ryan Hunter-Reay ran second, hounding first Power and then Briscoe, waiting for the slightest mistake. The AA driver finally got to lead when Briscoe pitted on lap 54, but only until RHR pitted on lap 58. Briscoe resumed the lead, just in time for a caution on lap 62.
The three leaders handled the restart well. Ryan Hunter-Reay drew up level with Briscoe but had to back off as he couldn’t make the pass, while Power tried up the outside, but also couldn’t make it and started to tuck in behind Hunter-Reay.
As he did, teammate Helio Castroneves, making a desperate move inside fourth-place Orial Servia, locked his front wheels and went straight into Power, spinning him and dropping him to 16th. The same action collected Scott Dixon, while behind all this Graham Rahal hit Takuma Sato, and Charlie Kimball came together with Sebastian Saavedra.
Power was philosophical about being rammed by a teammate: “It’s racing, and it’s close racing, and it’s double-file restarts,’ he told Versus. “These things happen.”
When the mess was sorted out, Briscoe was first, Hunter-Reay second, and Dario Franchitti third, Mike Conway sixth, Will Power 15th, Scott Dixon 19th.
On the restart Conway took fourth. On the next lap he passed Franchitti, then Briscoe, and for the final 13 laps of the race he just stretched his lead.
Unfortunately his teammate, Ryan Hunter-Reay, had a gearbox failure on the restart. Hunter-Reay was poised to defend his 2010 Long Beach win; instead, he rolled into the pits, stuck in first gear.
Hunter-Reay was distraught after the race. “I’m still trying to process this,” he told a Versus reporter after the race. “I can’t believe it.” The car was so good.
“With Briscoe there we were saving fuel behind him—then after the last couple stops the team told me to let loose on him. We were getting ready to go, I kept Dario behind me I was setting up Briscoe and then the gear selector broke. It wouldn’t come out of first gear. I still can’t believe it.
“We had the car to win, I think, and the luck’s been so bad this year, but what are you going to do? That’s racing. I feel like it was my race. I am very disappointed. It’s hard to swallow right now. I was looking forward to racing Briscoe hard.”
Ryan Briscoe’s second-place finish helped offset rotten results at the first two races.
“It feels so good,” to be on the podium, he told Versus. “For a while I thought we were actually going to get the win today but Conway was lightning fast—I really had nothing for him at the end on the restart.”
As he did, teammate Helio Castroneves, making a desperate move inside fourth-place Orial Servia, locked his front wheels and went straight into Power, spinning him and dropping him to 16th. The same action collected Scott Dixon, while behind all this Graham Rahal hit Takuma Sato, and Charlie Kimball came together with Sebastian Saavedra.
Power was philosophical about being rammed by a teammate: “It’s racing, and it’s close racing, and it’s double-file restarts,’ he told Versus. “These things happen.”
When the mess was sorted out, Briscoe was first, Hunter-Reay second, and Dario Franchitti third, Mike Conway sixth, Will Power 15th, Scott Dixon 19th.
On the restart Conway took fourth. On the next lap he passed Franchitti, then Briscoe, and for the final 13 laps of the race he just stretched his lead.
Unfortunately his teammate, Ryan Hunter-Reay, had a gearbox failure on the restart. Hunter-Reay was poised to defend his 2010 Long Beach win; instead, he rolled into the pits, stuck in first gear.
Hunter-Reay was distraught after the race. “I’m still trying to process this,” he told a Versus reporter after the race. “I can’t believe it.” The car was so good.
“With Briscoe there we were saving fuel behind him—then after the last couple stops the team told me to let loose on him. We were getting ready to go, I kept Dario behind me I was setting up Briscoe and then the gear selector broke. It wouldn’t come out of first gear. I still can’t believe it.
“We had the car to win, I think, and the luck’s been so bad this year, but what are you going to do? That’s racing. I feel like it was my race. I am very disappointed. It’s hard to swallow right now. I was looking forward to racing Briscoe hard.”
Ryan Briscoe’s second-place finish helped offset rotten results at the first two races.
“It feels so good,” to be on the podium, he told Versus. “For a while I thought we were actually going to get the win today but Conway was lightning fast—I really had nothing for him at the end on the restart.”
Dario Franchitti’s third-place finish kept him ahead in the points race.
“I could run down anybody, but they could gap me around the hairpin,” Franchitti told Versus. “I guess we set the car up for the wrong corner.
“Mike Conway was in a class of his own on that last restart. I was struggling to get temperature in the tires, he came hauling past me, and he did a great job. Congratulations to him. We’ve got to work harder and find out where we’re missing just a little bit of pace.”
For the top teams: Andretti Autosport, Penske Racing, and Target-Ganassi Racing—the day showed the good and bad side of racing luck. All got drivers home in good position; all had drivers in good position finish badly. Roger Penske has the added upset of having one of his drivers take out another—never a good scene.
Mike Conway had a great day. He came back from injuries he thought might end his career to winning his third race for his new team.
Fans scored the best of all. The IndyCar Long Beach Grand Prix is often criticized for being a parade, with no passing. Instead, fans got to see tight racing, passing, action … and in the end, the championship battle is tighter than ever, with Dario Franchitti only seven points ahead of Will Power.
Racing luck hurt a few drivers, but IndyCar as a whole got very lucky at the Long Beach Grand Prix.
“I could run down anybody, but they could gap me around the hairpin,” Franchitti told Versus. “I guess we set the car up for the wrong corner.
“Mike Conway was in a class of his own on that last restart. I was struggling to get temperature in the tires, he came hauling past me, and he did a great job. Congratulations to him. We’ve got to work harder and find out where we’re missing just a little bit of pace.”
For the top teams: Andretti Autosport, Penske Racing, and Target-Ganassi Racing—the day showed the good and bad side of racing luck. All got drivers home in good position; all had drivers in good position finish badly. Roger Penske has the added upset of having one of his drivers take out another—never a good scene.
Mike Conway had a great day. He came back from injuries he thought might end his career to winning his third race for his new team.
Fans scored the best of all. The IndyCar Long Beach Grand Prix is often criticized for being a parade, with no passing. Instead, fans got to see tight racing, passing, action … and in the end, the championship battle is tighter than ever, with Dario Franchitti only seven points ahead of Will Power.
Racing luck hurt a few drivers, but IndyCar as a whole got very lucky at the Long Beach Grand Prix.
