Insider: Conor Daly excited to represent Indiana with Ed Carpenter Racing in IndyCar

INDIANAPOLIS – Even in the face of almost certain rejection, Conor Daly was always persistent.

During these past two years, the six-year IndyCar veteran would start his days working out at St. Vincent Sports Performance, training his body for a full-time series ride that seemed like it might never come. And in sharing an athletic trainer, many days he’d cross paths with fellow Indiana native Ed Carpenter – a competitor on the track, but a possible lifeline as a team owner with parts of two full-time entries.

“Whenever I’d run into him, I’d always ask, ‘Hey man, any seats open?’ And every time, it would be, ‘No, not yet,’” Daly said with a chuckle. 

Carpenter added: “For a long time, I’ve taken a beating from his loyal fan base whenever he’d be looking for an opportunity, or if we had an opening and we went a different direction. But like most things in life, timing is everything.”

In the middle of one of the most tumultuous IndyCar offseasons in years, Daly found the ‘Yes’ he’d been looking for since he lost his full-season ride with A.J. Foyt’s garage in late-October in 2017.

Monday, Ed Carpenter Racing announced Daly would team up with the driver-owner in the No. 20 car and compete in the 12 road and street courses, along with a third entry for the team in the 104th Indianapolis 500.

The news comes after a wild two-year stint for Daly, who has driven for five separate teams since the 2018 Indy 500: Thom Burns Racing, Harding Racing, Andretti Autosport, Carlin Racing and newly-named Arrow McLaren SP. And in an offseason where sponsorship difficulties and tough personnel decisions have left several veterans blindsided, Daly’s strong partnership with the U.S. Air Force helped propel his career forward into 2020.

The military branch, who teamed up with Daly for the 2018 500 and has continued its support ever since, were a major influence in allowing Monday’s news to come to fruition.

“It’s very rare to have a sponsor as loyal as the U.S. Air Force has become, but it proves we’re giving them the return they want,” said Daly in an exclusive interview with IndyStar. “If you can’t do that, you’re not going to stay around for long, but we’ve started small and have been increasing our program, and we look to make it even bigger.

“I couldn’t be any more proud to represent them. It’s a very special group of people, and that for sure adds pressure because I want to make them proud.”

In one of his brightest moments since diving into IndyCar in 2013, Daly’s USAF-sponsored No. 25 car, which he dubbed the “fighter jet on wheels”, held its own entering the final 50 laps of the 2019 500 that he drove for Andretti. Daly reached as high as fourth before dropping from sixth to 10th with mechanical issues on the final restart with 18 laps to go. It was Daly’s first strong showing at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Previously, he’d finished 33rd (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports), 29th (Dale Coyne Racing), 30th (A.J. Foyt Enterprises) and 21st (Thom Burns Racing) at IMS. The opportunity to drive for a larger team injected some confidence into Daly.

“It was a hard, rough 2018 with Harding and them still growing, and it was really hard to get the results I wanted, but to get to the front this year running with those guys, (Simon) Pagenaud, (Alexander) Rossi, Ed (Carpenter), it restored my confidence to go out and do what I did with Carlin,” said Daly, who drove four races during the summer for the upstart Carlin that included a sixth-place run at Gateway – his best since finishing fifth at the same track in 2017.

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The run at IMS, along with Daly’s second-place finish in Detroit with Coyne during a 2016 campaign that included five top-six finishes, was pivotal for Carpenter. This offseason Carpenter has been busy trying to find the right veteran to pair alongside 2020 rookie Rinus VeeKay, who will drive the No. 21 car.

ECR’s cars have consistently performed well in the 500, placing all three entries in last year’s Fast Nine, and the owner-driver said he has a lot of faith in what Daly can do when equipped with a fast machine and consistent personnel surrounding him.

“When you look at his whole career, it can be really hard to judge him. He’s had to persevere so much with how he’s had to bounce around,” Carpenter told IndyStar. “It’s an extremely hard thing to do with different groups of people and manufacturers. But more than anything, the mental toughness and perseverance he’s had to continue being relevant and showcase that’s he’s ready and available.

“He had two years of stability with Coyne and Foyt, and I think you can pick positives out of both, but I’m excited to give him a stable opportunity that we hope can be successful for Ed Carpenter Racing and Conor and continue to develop him toward a full-time program eventually.”

On the prospect of possibly expanding toward three full-time IndyCar entries with VeeKay, Daly, Carpenter and another co-driver in the No. 20, the team owner said it’s a possibility well within the cards with the right performance for all parties in 2020.

“I don’t think you enter into any partnerships with a short-sided approach,” he said. “We want to develop and grow our talent base, and this is a great opportunity for a guy like Conor, who has a lot of experience but hasn’t had the opportunity to run a full calendar.”

Daly said Monday’s news is yet another stepping stone for his dream to again compete in a full season fashion and vie for a season championship. He’ll have the tools to prove what he can do behind the wheel of one of IndyCar’s strongest and smallest teams.

“I’ve been in that ‘driving for my life’ mode, which I think is important, and I have to keep driving like that,” he said. “But in that position, you don’t get any testing, so there’s not a lot of time to get used to the car, and everyone still expects you to do something crazy.

“But you’re entirely unprepared for that, and on race weekends … you’re expected to do a full race and make some magic happen.”

Daly’s full-circle whirlwind these last 25 months have forced him to look inwards and decide just how much he wanted to fight for his dreams. He’s now as aware as ever that he competes in a sport that, first and foremost, is a business that, at times, hasn’t worked out in his favor.

But now with financial backing, a racing seat and competitive driving skills, he’s ready to hit this next chapter head-on as one part of IndyCar’s premier born-and-bred Indiana entry.

“We’re in a very weird era for IndyCar. You just never know with this offseason, and it’s not over yet,” Daly said. “But I came back from it.

“And where I am now, I’m a proud Indiana man, so it’s nice to be able to represent my hometown and this state, and I’m happy Ed and I can do that together.”