Crashing to the top

It all happened so fast Aaron Conn has a hard time piecing together what led up to it. He was behind the wheel of the ‘76 Chevelle he’s driven for the past three years in PGARA’s bomber class when a car to his left veered, crushing the front of his car between it and the unyielding concrete of the speedway wall.
“I don’t recall what I was thinking at the time because it all happened too fast to even think,” says the 20-year-old bomber driver. The crash wasn’t enough to stop Conn, the current points leader in bomber class, from entering the main that same evening. His crew hammered his front end into something resembling a car again, slapped on parts borrowed from another driver who had written-off his own vehicle earlier in the day, and Conn hobbled it out onto the track, somehow still managing to claim third place.
“My crew said to me later they didn’t know how I even drove it,” he says with a laugh. “The tie rod was just hammered straight and I was wobbling all over the track.”
Conn is used to mechanical mishaps. His first season after making the move from go-karts to bombers he completely totalled his car. And he missed the first race of this season after an engine failure. The motor of his Chevelle is held together, in his words, by “silicone, studs and sealant.”
But none of that has stopped Conn from having his best season ever at PGARA, making a huge jump from fifth place last season to the top of the points standings this year.
This weekend is the annual PGARA Bomber Invitational — two days of 60-lap bomber mains as well as heats and dashes. For the past few weeks Conn has been frantically repairing the front of his car, straightening the frame, reinstalling the grill and air cleaner and fixing the suspension in preparation for the biggest bomber event of the year. Two things are on the line for the bomber vet — his position at the top of the points listings and a prize purse that could go a long way towards keeping his car on the track.
This is Conn’s fourth season at PGARA and his first time wearing the mantle of points leader. It’s a title he says he does his best to ignore. Better not to believe his own press and just go out and race his hardest every time. He’s already had to silence critics who accused him of “mirror-driving” by placing a black ‘X’ over his rear view mirror. It’s just part of the head games that comes with being a racer, he says.
With the steady exodus of bomber veterans to the pro-stock class, Conn says he’s given some thought to making the move himself, but for now the bomber division is in his price range.
“It’s come across my mind now and then but from what I understand it can cost thousands of dollars to race after you’ve already got the car.”