INDIANAPOLIS – Conor Daly just wants stability. He wants to drive consistently. He doesn’t care if it's with IndyCar, NASCAR or even GT World Challenge America. So, he drove cars for all three series in just one week.
Three races and one test.
Four states.
Four vehicles.
Seven days. It is the most vehicles he has driven in a single week.
The “Conor Daly World Tour,” as the Noblesville native called it, began Sunday, July 14, with an NTT IndyCar Series race at the Iowa Speedway. Although he didn’t finish the race due to mechanical issues, Daly completed 140 of the 250 laps in the Hy-Vee One Step 250, replacing an injured Jack Harvey.
Daly’s travel issues started Tuesday evening, where he struggled to even get Southeast when his flight from Indianapolis to Charlotte was canceled. He woke up at 4 a.m. Wednesday to catch the next possible flight for a simulation day with Toyota, before driving to the Virginia International Raceway for Thursday’s test.
July 18, Daly tested a GT3 sports car for his debut with GT World Challenge America on Oct. 6 at IMS. After a full day of testing, his flight back to Indianapolis was officially canceled at 9:36 p.m.
In need of a place to sleep while he waited for a flight back to Indiana, Daly took a long Uber ride to NASCAR Xfinity Series team owner Sam Hunt’s house. He woke up at 6 a.m. Friday, and about an hour later Sam Hunt Racing announced that Daly was finally flying back to the Circle City.
Daly’s Friday started with Xfinity Series practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1:05-1:55 p.m. He posted the third-best time of all participants at 164.995 miles per hour and a best lap time of 54.547 seconds.
He quickly left IMS to go 20 minutes over to Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg in time for Truck Series’ TSport 200 3:30 p.m. practice and 4:05 p.m. qualifying, all ahead of an 8:30 p.m. race. The only other time Daly had raced at Indianapolis Raceway Park was the day after he graduated high school, winning a USF Pro 200 event.
This was Daly’s fourth race for NASCAR’s Truck Series, twice recording his highest finishes in 18th place, and he started in last place after a mechanical issue that prevented him from driving during qualifying. The Noblesville native finished 29th of 34 finishing drivers, with much of his struggles credited to his front right tire blowing out near the end of the race.
“I’ve had a lot of bad luck with trucks,” Daly said. “That’s why I’m glad we have more (racing). I didn’t want to show up just doing one race and then something crazy happens.”
Despite his competitive itch to place higher, Daly was glad to finish the race and felt that he hung with some of the best of the series at his peak Friday night.
“When we were fast, we were really freakin’ fast,” Daly said. “It felt cool to be really racey with some of those guys.”
Daly said the biggest difference between racing trucks and stock cars is the precise strategy that is essential to success in stock car racing. He felt like he was all over the track when driving in the truck, and he knew he couldn’t do the same when he raced in the Xfinity Series’ Pennzoil 250 Saturday.
Ahead of qualifying for Saturday’s race, Daly said he felt mostly good physically, with just a little soreness holding him back from 100%. However, he admitted bouncing between four different cars in the span of six days at that point did feel mentally draining at times.
“I don't think people realize how hard every different vehicle is to drive, especially when there are people in there doing this full time,” Daly said. “This is a craft, and everyone is very good. Gone are the days of anyone from any other series just jumping it.”
Daly posted a top lap time of 54.305 seconds in Pennzoil 250 qualifying and started his third race for NASCAR’s Xfinity Series in 16th. Daly said the biggest learning curve when he first drove a Xfinity Series car was the patience that had to come with it. After specializing in Indy car driving, he was used to racing at more than 200 mph consistently, a speed NASCAR drivers never come close to.
The No. 26 Toyota driver’s best finish in his previous two Xfinity Series showings was 31st, but he easily cleared that previous mark with a 14th place finish Saturday. Daly's best lap time was 55.669 seconds.
"Hopefully that proved my worth," Daly said on the broadcast less than 30 minutes after the race. "I love ... just driving. I want a chance to do this more often, and I'm trying to fight for it."
Heading into the Pennzoil 250, Daly said he wasn't sure where he would have to finish to feel satisfied, and that he would probably even be happy to just complete all 100 laps. It certainly seemed that he was satisfied with 14th place, and he did finish all 100 laps, but he encountered a threat to that goal as early as Lap 1.
In the midst of a multi-car accident in which most cars involved remained on-track afterwards, the front left of Daly's No. 26 Toyota Polkadot was rammed. And yet, by the end of the first stage, Daly climbed as high as seventh place.
“It’s annoying to think that after this weekend I'm back to not doing anything for a while,” Daly said. “I would love to be in IndyCar (full time), but the IndyCar world doesn't seem to love me as much as I would like it to.”
But Daly knows part of that is on him. He knows to get a full time spot with IndyCar, bringing numerous appealing brand deals to the table is just as important as on-track success.
“You have to create opportunities,” Daly said. “If you sit around, no one's going to go and find you to do the job, because drivers are a dime a dozen.”
Contact Kyle Smedley with comments via email atKSmedley@Gannett.com or via X@KyleSmedley_.
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