Mike Conway will no longer race on ovals

[Brogan]

Mike Conway has decided to withdraw from all future oval events because he is no longer comfortable competing in them.

I can't say I blame him, especially after the horrific crash involving Dan Wheldon and of course his own crash two years ago.

It's an unusual thing for a racing driver to do but it does indicate he has lost his confidence or now values his life far more than racing.

He does however say this:

"I want to stress that I am not finished racing and to this end, I would love to continue with Foyt Racing, but that’s something we need to discuss in the future."

I'm not sure how the team can keep a driver on who only does certain circuits though.

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/indycar-series-news/284038/conway-decides-to-pull-out-of-oval-racing/

 

[FB]

How odd - maybe he'd like everyone to slow down a bit?

 

[soccerman17]

It wouldn't be that much of a stretch to run him only on road courses. Dragon Racing is currently running Sebastian Bourdais on road courses only and Katherine Legge on ovals only and Andretti Autosport has been entering Sebastian Saavedra on mainly ovals. Thing is Mike is not the only one, EJ Viso tweeted yesterday that if IndyCar didn't allow them to have more downforce than he wasn't racing tonight.

 

[gethinceri]

Hmmm, how queer, maybe they should run a series on ovals and a series on road circuits.............

 

[Galahad]

I wonder how many drivers privately feel the same as Conway, but lack the guts to admit it.

 

[soccerman17]

Haha gethinceri I think they tried that one before. It didn't work.

 

[Mephistopheles]

When a driver loses his nerve it is time for him to quit.......

 

[siffert_fan]

Viso did race, dropping out after 65 laps.

Conway's replacement finished 14th, better than Conway's normal finish. I, for one, haven't found Conway especially impressive since he moved on from Formula 3. He has generally been a mid-to-back pack runner since then, although there have been a few races where all the stars aligned and he got a good result. I have no idea where he will go now. Do you think the DTM or Sports cars are in the immediate future for him?