Indy 500 notebook: Conway's pit mistake costs Power
Mike Conway made one mistake in Sunday's Indianapolis 500, and his crew made one. The latter cost IndyCar points leader Will Power a good finish in the race.
Conway started the sequence by sliding into his pit box, hitting two A.J. Foyt Racing crew members and causing a third to tumble. What no one saw was that the left front tire changer damaged the front wing.
Unaware of the problem, the crew sent Conway back out on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. The first time he approached Turn 1 at speed he realized a problem.
"Through Turns 3 and 4, it felt a little wiggly," he said of the car. "I thought it was just tire temperatures. But down the front straight when I went down into Turn 1, I could see one of the end plates sticking up in the air. I knew it wouldn't be right turning in, so I tried to back out (of the accelerator) just going in.
"But I knew Will was close behind me, so I didn't want to back out too much, and the car got very loose."
Conway spun into the wall where Power was headed. Power was helpless and drove into the back of Conway.
The impact was ferocious and sent Conway's car vertically. It rode along the top of the energy-absorbing SAFER barrier before landing on its wheels. It was his second major accident in three years, the other coming in 2010 when his car flew into the Turn 3 fence.
Power's damaged car skidded to the inside wall. He couldn't believe what happened.
"(Conway) said the team sent him out with a broken wing," he said. "I don't understand why they would do that."
--- Rubens Barrichello learned this about racing in the 500: The finish isn't like the start.
"You learn who races a little bit harder, who races a little more friendly," he said. "But the last 20 laps, I tell you, they are completely different from the whole other 180.
"It's just that people are really, really going for it, as I did."
Barrichello finished 11th in the first oval-track race of his career. The former Ferrari driver in Formula One said he enjoyed the experience.
"It was very different than anything I've done," he said. "We carried too much (aerodynamic) downforce all the way through. That kept me safe. It kept me racy."
Notes:
--- Honda-powered cars grabbed the top two finishing positions and six of the top 10.
--- There were six penalties called by first-year race director Beaux Barfield, including a two-lapper against rookie Jean Alesi for initially ignoring a black flag to pit with a slow car (a Lotus).
---There were a record 35 lead changes among 10 drivers. Marco Andretti led the most laps with 59.
--- Tony Kanaan had the restart of the race, going from fifth to first before the first turn on Lap 185.
