FONTANA, Calif. -- Wade Cunningham landed at Ontario International Airport at 11:45 a.m. (PT). Fortunately, Auto Club Speedway is only a few miles away.

Cunningham, 28, will replace Mike Conway in the No. 14 ABC Supply car for A.J. Foyt Racing in the MAVTV INDYCAR World Championships at Auto Club Speedway on Sept. 15.

Conway, who tested at the 2-mile oval Sept. 12, asked to sit out the 250-lap race.

“I’m truly sorry for putting the team and our sponsors in a difficult position, but this is the hardest decision I have ever made in my racing career,” Conway said. “I’ve come to realize I’m not comfortable on the ovals and no longer wish to compete on them. I want to stress that I am not finished racing and to this end, I would love to continue with A.J. Foyt Racing, but that’s something we need to discuss in the future.”

In 53 IZOD IndyCar Series races, Conway has one victory (Long Beach in 2011) and 13 top-10 finishes. This season, he had a best finish of third at Toronto after starting 11th. He qualified second at Baltimore but started 12th because of an unapproved engine change.

After talking with Conway, team director Larry Foyt contacted Cunningham.

“Fortunately, Wade was available to drive for us, and we’re looking forward to working with him again,” Foyt said. “Mike’s been a great asset to our team, and I’m disappointed that we can’t finish out the season together. However, it took a lot of courage for Mike to come forward and we respect him highly for that and we certainly want to honor his decision.”

Cunningham, the 2005 Firestone Indy Lights champion who has three victories on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in the Firestone Freedom 100, made three IZOD IndyCar Series starts in 2011 and competed in his first Indianapolis 500 in May (started 26th and finished 31st; out with electrical issue) in an A.J. Foyt Racing car.

"I didn't get to do any racing at Indy and I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to race again," Cunningham said. "I'm pleased that I must have done something right in May to get the phone call.

"We start behind the eight ball because the whole field has tested in the last two weeks. We just have to bring ourselves up to speed one step at a time and really just make smart gains. You have to have realistic expectations when you show up like this at the last minute."

He received an hour of track time, with INDYCAR president of competition Beaux Barfield and IZOD IndyCar Series technical director Kevin Blanch observing.

"It's in everyone's best interest that (Cunningham) gets comfortable on the oval," Barfield said.

Cunningham, of New Zealand, clinched the Firestone Indy Lights title with a victory at Auto Club Speedway (then California Speedway) after starting fifth. It was the first of his eight victories in the series.