Conway completes comeback

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- His left leg broken in pieces, his back fractured as well, Mike Conway wanted to know just one thing after his horrific crash at the 2010 Indianapolis 500: When could he get back behind the wheel?

Once he wrapped his mind around the reality of a long layoff, Conway went about fixing his body.

His nearly yearlong recovery complete, Conway earned his first career IndyCar victory in impressive fashion, zipping past Ryan Briscoe late to win the Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday in just his third race since that bone-breaking crash at Indy.

"As soon as it happened, I wanted to know what the timeframe was until I could get back into the car," Conway said.

Driving for Dreyer & Reinbold, Conway saw his future become shrouded in a cloud of smoke by one of the most frightening crashes in Indianapolis 500 history. Colliding with future teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, Conway's car went hurtling through the air and smashed into a barrier, leaving him with multiple fractures in his lower left leg and a compression fracture in his back.

Never doubting he'd return, Conway went through a grueling rehabilitation with an eye at returning before the 2010 season ended. He was still on crutches in August, though, and never made it back.

Racing for Andretti Autosport this season, Conway had an uneven return, finishing 23rd in the opener at St. Petersburg and 22nd at Alabama last week.

On Sunday, the 27-year-old English driver started third and was able to hang with the leaders on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile circuit through the streets of downtown Long Beach while avoiding the multiple late-race crashes.

Charging out of a final caution, he whipped past two-time defending series champion Dario Franchitti and Briscoe with 14 laps left, then extended his lead from there, up six seconds on the final lap. Briscoe finished second.

■ NHRA -- At Concord, N.C., Del Worsham edged teammate Larry Dixon by 0.0048 seconds -- about 6 inches -- in the Top Fuel final at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.

Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) also won in the event featuring racing in four lanes instead of the traditional two. A center wall separated the second and third lanes.

Worsham had a 3.813-second run at 319.82 mph. Worsham, who also won last month in the Gatornationals, opened a 77-point lead over Dixon.

■ FORMULA ONE -- At Shanghai, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix, passing Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel for the lead with five laps remaining.

Vettel made a strong bid for three straight wins to start the Formula One season, but couldn't hold off Hamilton, who made one more pit stop than the German and had fresher tires at the end.

■ LVMS -- Scott Gafforini won the 40-lap Super Late Model feature Saturday in the NASCAR All-American Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's Bullring.

Other winners in the series were: Patrick O'Hanley (Chargers); Wade Pearson (Bombers); Californian Jessica Clark (USAC Focus Midget); Texan C.J. Hulsey (Legends Cars); and Frank McCourt (Thunder Cars).

■ NASCAR WEST -- At Roseville, Calif., Jason Fensler won Saturday in the NASCAR K&N Pro West regional stock-car series at All American Speedway. Dylan Kwasniewski of Las Vegas, a 15-year-old competing in his first race in the series, finished fourth.