A Racing Legend's Advice and Best Wishes to Leonard Conn

Leonard Conn behind the wheel before his crash in the 25 hours of Thunderhill 2003.

Many of you know by now that the Factory Five Team #2 running under Dan Lawson’s FFR East and West teams at the 25 hour enduro race suffered an accident that put the car out of commission and hospitalized the driver Leonard Conn with a broken foot.

It’s cliché to say that Racing is a very dangerous sport.  The reason why race car drivers and their families are such heroic figures is precisely because of the risks they face so bravely when donning their helmets and heading out on the track.  As a racer you must accept the chances that something bad can happen.  Most racers will tell you the same thing about life and something about living it to the fullest… 

Leonard is a former National Champion in Legends cars and he knows all too well the risks involved in racing.  Nevertheless, when bad things happen, the racing community usually comes together to support those who are affected.  We wanted to include some photos of Leonard and send along our best wishes for a speedy recovery.  Cheney is hard at work building a new car.  We are thankful that we have Leonard with us still and that his prognosis looks bright.

As 2003 closes and is marked by the passing of racing legend Carroll Smith, it is an appropriate time to listen again to the sage words of one of motorsports greatest and to keep in mind the obligation we all have to those brave drivers who came before us and laid the groundwork for today’s sport.

“ The price of man in motion is the occasional collision.  Motor racing is dangerous.  In order to be competitive in this business it is necessary for both man and machine to operate at the outer edges of their respective performance envelopes.  The closer we come to the edge, the greater the risk of falling off.” 

Carroll Smith

Engineer to Win

Best wishes to Leonard for a speedy recovery, from the entire FFR community.  We all look forward to an exciting and SAFE 2004 racing season!

If you want to send along your best wishes for a speedy recovery to Leonard, email him at lconn@cox.net