Mike Conway no longer wants to race on ovals

Likely the end of his Indycar career. He had that bad accident at Indy this year, but he hasn't been competitive with exception of maybe 1 or 2 races this year. Not to mention its never good when a driver admits there scared.
 
wilson89 said:
Likely the end of his Indycar career. He had that bad accident at Indy this year, but he hasn't been competitive with exception of maybe 1 or 2 races this year. Not to mention its never good when a driver admits there scared.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. I don't see them changing the schedule to accomadate his fears.
 
Preface: This story got me to thinking about a few things,.....

I am like most others in believing a driver has to be brave or insane.
But I don't blame or disrespect Conway for the disclosure. In fact I probably respect him more now than I did (I never was a believer in his driving).

This isn't something new, in 73 or 74 Bobby Isaac parked a Bud Moore car mid race at Talladega because a voice told him to quit. And I do respect the memory of Bobby Isaac he was a great driver, and underrated in my opinion. FTR drivers were getting killed at the Super speedways in those days (Tiny Lund, Friday Hassler, Donnie Mactavish proved it could happen to popular drivers that were well loved). Maybe Isaac should have listened to the voice, in 77 he was overcome by the Heat in a race at Hickory, and died at hospital from a heart attack as a result.

In 1976 Niki Lauda was one of the best drivers in the world. He is the only driver to ever record a lap under 7 minutes at Nuremberg (on the old configuration that was two miles longer than the current one). But Lauda didn't think it wasn't safe, and he was one of the few that voted to boycott the event. He was overruled by the other drivers and he proved his vote was right with his horrific crash there. After a coma, he had just enough plastic surgery to allow him to race again in six weeks. Lauda was as rugged as a driver could possibly be, and after the hell he endured he managed to enter the last event with a narrow point lead. But after the first two laps he parked the car due to the heavy rain, and vision issues with his damaged eye lids from the Nuremberg crash. As a result he lost the championship to James Hunt. He fell out of Ferrari's good graces as a result too, that was pretty cold considering the sacrifices he made.

Chris Amon who drove in the 76 Nuremberg event retired immediately after Lauda's crash. He had simply lost to many friends and saw to many burned up.

Conway knows what happened to Wheldon, he also gets to see Sam Schmidt in the pits routinely. You can't let those possibilities torture you as a driver. If you can't put them to rest, you will not be able to concentrate or get in the zone. I appreciate Conway honesty, I bet he isn't the only one with the problem, at least he is honest enough to admit to his problem.
 
It might be a hard transition from European road courses to American ovals. I think there is European bias against ovals, I recall reading a long time ago a European driver point of view about the fear (wrong word - concern?) of crashing into a concrete wall at high speed (before safer barriers).
 
Greg said:
Preface: This story got me to thinking about a few things,.....

I am like most others in believing a driver has to be brave or insane.
But I don't blame or disrespect Conway for the disclosure. In fact I probably respect him more now than I did (I never was a believer in his driving).

I appreciate Conway honesty, I bet he isn't the only one with the problem, at least he is honest enough to admit to his problem.
Click to expand...

Well said, Greg, and thanks for the history lesson. It certainly isn't often when you see any driver in racing back out of a race because of safety concerns. But this is open wheel racing. And I, like you, can't blame him, especially after Conway used up one of his nine lives already, so to speak.

As we all know, wrecks are here to stay in all forms of auto racing. And as long as cars with open wheels continue to race on any type of track, cars getting airborne are here to stay, as well.
 
nascage said:
Well said, Greg, and thanks for the history lesson. It certainly isn't often when you see any driver in racing back out of a race because of safety concerns. But this is open wheel racing. And I, like you, can't blame him, especially after Conway used up one of his nine lives already, so to speak.

As we all know, wrecks are here to stay in all forms of auto racing. And as long as cars with open wheels continue to race on any type of track, cars getting airborne are here to stay, as well.
Click to expand...

225+ mph on an oval is a serious risk and, no matter how much safety you put in place, crashing the wrong way is certain death. Ovals are for full-bodied stock cars. IndyCar KNEW what was going to go down at Vegas. Everyone knew what the risk was. The drivers were scared. Bruton Smith and Indycar even promoted the fact that it'd be exciting because there'd be a big crash.

Open wheel racing does not belong on tracks like Texas, Vegas and Fontana.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
225+ mph on an oval is a serious risk and, no matter how much safety you put in place, crashing the wrong way is certain death. Ovals are for full-bodied stock cars. IndyCar KNEW what was going to go down at Vegas. Everyone knew what the risk was. The drivers were scared. Bruton Smith and Indycar even promoted the fact that it'd be exciting because there'd be a big crash.

Open wheel racing does not belong on tracks like Texas, Vegas and Fontana.
Click to expand...

I'd really like to disagree with you - but I can't.
I just hope there isn't a full moon in southern California on Saturday night.
 
I think Indycar is more prepared this season. Speeds are down about 10-15 mph, not to mention I heard Fontana the cars you have to lift now in the corners. Vegas you didn't lift, it was basicly Talladega for Indycars. I think the pack will become broken up simular to the way it was in Texas earlier in the year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom