Despite still being shocked by the death of Dan Wheldon, Indy Car racer Mike Conway is planning a return next year.

The 28 year old couldn’t be criticised for questioning his desire to continue racing following Wheldon’s death, but he insists he will be back behind the wheel of an Indy Car for his fourth season in 2012:

“I’m currently working on things for next year,” he said from his home in Sevenoaks. “We want to stay in IndyCar, but nothing’s done and dusted quite yet. We’re looking to either stay where we are [at Andretti Autosport], and we’re also just seeing what’s out there and available, really.

“We’re using this time to work on next year and a lot of people don’t seem to know what they’re doing next year—there’s a lot of uncertainty, but our focus will continue to be on IndyCar.”

Although his plans have yet to be finalised, Conway has stayed connected with his fellow IndyCar drivers as they look at how to improve safety from 2012 and beyond.

“Everyone had to have a few weeks to reflect on what happened and what the next step is, really,” he said. “The drivers have been emailing back and forth to see what we can do better. I think a lot of drivers were dealing with similar feelings but the goal is to move forward. We’ve been talking amongst ourselves and not really out loud to everybody else.”

Looking back at the recently completed season, the results from Conway’s first year with Andretti Autosport can only be characterised as bizarre.

Despite earning his first IndyCar Series win at Long Beach, if the cartoon anvil fell within the Andretti camp, it almost always managed to find Conway’s No. 27 entry.

From failing to qualify for the Indy 500 to finishing outside the top 20 on eight occasions, Conway hopes to rid himself of the black cloud in 2012.

“It was a strange year,” he said. “Some good and some bad. Some really weird results and not at all what we expected. I want to come back with a strong team in a strong environment, and I’m hopeful we can do that.”

The IndyCar Series driver market has been busier than ever, but Conway doesn’t expect to have a deal in place before the New Year.

“We’ll see what happens in the next couple of months,” he said. “I doubt we’ll know anything before January. It would be nice to know something before Christmas, but I haven’t had that happen for a couple of years…”