Conor Daly overcame the odds in May to make the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. Four months later, the Verizon IndyCar Series veteran is returning to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in hopes of conquering another challenge.
The United States Auto Club (USAC) announced Monday that Daly will pilot a second entry for Landon Simon Racing in Thursday’s Driven2SaveLives BC39 presented by NOS Energy Drink at The Dirt Track at IMS. He’ll be making his USAC P1 Insurance National Midget debut on the quarter-mile clay oval specially constructed inside the famous 2.5-mile superspeedway.
Daly’s entry came from a connection with Brownsburg, Indiana, native Landon Simon.
“I've known Landon for a while, and he just asked me if I wanted to do it,” Daly said. “It was sort of random. But at this point in my life, with all I've got going on with my career, I figured why not?”
In May, Daly bumped his way into the Indianapolis 500 field of 33 for the final time on a nerve-racking third qualifying run for Dale Coyne Racing with Thom Burns Racing. He finished the race in 21st place.
The BC39 presents an entirely new challenge for the 26-year-old from Noblesville, Indiana. There are a series record 118 entrants for the prestigious race, and Daly is among the least experienced dirt racers in the field. Before Tuesday, he’d never completed a lap on dirt – at least not in a real car.
"I've fooled around with (dirt) on iRacing a bit, but that's about it,” Daly said. “I have no dirt experience at all. Nothing like this.”
Daly tested Simon’s midget at Lincoln Park Speedway on Tuesday, but he’s keeping his expectations in check.
“There's going to be a lot of people there that are incredibly good and going for the money,” he said. “For me, I'm not at that level. I obviously want to go as fast as I can go, but realistically it's just about having fun, enjoying it and learning something.”
Daly will carry the INDYCAR banner. In doing so, he hopes to continue a relationship between Indy car and dirt racing fans that’s been built over decades.
In days of old, it wasn’t uncommon to see open-wheel legends race an Indy car one day and be on a dirt track the next. While specialization has seen that crossover become nearly non-existent now, a few drivers have attempted it.
The late Bryan Clauson, the short-track superstar for whom the BC39 is named, made three Indy 500 starts and was a teammate of Daly. Verizon IndyCar Series driver Gabby Chaves gave USAC midget racing a try in 2015 when he competed in the Tony Stewart Classic at the Indianapolis Speedrome.
“I know there's an incredibly deep history with dirt racing and Indy car racing,” Daly said. “Legends like A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti did a lot of dirt oval racing, and it's important for us to stay connected to those roots. We saw it with Bryan Clauson doing the Indy 500.
“Hopefully at some point, we see more guys like that getting a shot at it, but for now it'll be cool to be that guy representing the INDYCAR world.”
While the competition on Wednesday and Thursday will be fun, Daly continues chasing a potential full-time return to the Verizon IndyCar Series. He recently completed a three-race stint for Harding Racing with a best finish of 12th place in the Honda Indy Toronto.
His 2018 INDYCAR racing season “pretty much over,” Daly has been working on 2019 plans since his Indy 500 run in May. The second-generation driver admitted he would be willing to make a one-off start in just about any series, saying, “I’m a driver, and I'm going to drive. Whatever the opportunity is, I'm clearly open to it.”
But at the end of the day, INDYCAR is Daly’s passion. He doesn’t have anything secured yet but has a host of potential partners that he hopes will keep his dream alive.
“The only way I'm going to be in INDYCAR is if I happen to lock down a financial partner for the deal, and that's what we're working on,” said Daly. “I have more possibilities than normal heading into the offseason when it comes to companies and people that we're working with, but you get a million nos for one yes.
“Hopefully I've finally hit a million, so we can get one ‘yes’ and be in action.”
BC39 track activity begins with hot laps at 5 p.m. ET Wednesday, with heat races starting at 7:15 p.m. Action continues Thursday with hot laps at 5 p.m., qualifying races at 6, main races at 7:45 and the feature race set for 9:30 p.m. Tickets are available at IMS.com.