Mike Conway endured an incident packed weekend at the Grand Prix of Houston in the latest round of the Verizon IndyCar series.

In the first race on Saturday Mike was to finish 17^th after sliding off track when in 10^th position and hitting the tyre wall.

They got the car repaired and back out on track for him to bring the ECR Chevy home, even with a sprained wrist.

Then on Sunday for the second day in a row, an early incident in the Grand Prix hurt Mike’s chances of scoring a solid finish Sunday in the tough heat and humidity at the MD Anderson Cancer Center Speedway near the Astrodome.  Despite the incident Mike still managed to finish in a solid 13^th position.

Conway, who started 17^th in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra-Premium Vodka Chevrolet, made contact with Marco Andretti in the chicane in the opening circuit of the 90-lap race and the impact forced the left front wing into the left front tire. Mike needed to make a pit stop immediately and the crew replaced the entire front wing assembly, added fresh Firestone tires and fuel.

Conway returned to action just in front of the lead pack and fought off the challenges of leader Helio Castroneves for nearly 30 laps in his attempt to stay on the lead lap. On the harder black tyres, Conway actually clocked quicker laps than the leaders later in the stint.

On lap 29, Conway pitted again for fuel and tyres. Unfortunately, he could not hold off Castroneves and was a lap behind the Penske driver by the 31^st circuit.

Conway continued to run with the leaders before IndyCar officials asked Mike to move over for the front runners to battle on the 1.7-mile, 10-turn temporary course carved through the parking lot of the nrg Stadium, home of the Houston Texans NFL team.

Despite driving with a sprained left thumb from Saturday’s tyre barrier incident, Conway worked his way from last on the first lap to 13^th at the checkered flag.

Speaking after the race a frustrated Conway, said: “Going into the chicane on the first lap, Marco (Andretti) made a move in front of me and I couldn’t stop quick enough.

“It clipped the front wing and I think it cut the tyre too. So I had to pit immediately and that really killed the race for us. I thought I could get away with it but it cut the tire. My (left) thumb was okay during the race after spraining it Saturday. It felt a little numb at times because I think the tape might have be a little too tight. But it was okay. I just tried to fight back and stay on the lead lap as long as I could.

“It was hot in the car but I felt pretty good. I was able to get some air coming into my visor during the yellows. I had a close call with a piece of carbon that flew up from (Luca) Filippi’s car. It hit the right mirror and almost me. It was close to hitting me in the head. That would have hurt.”