Conor Daly will certainly be looking forward to returning to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway after posting his second consecutive strong race at the St. Louis-area short oval in 2019.
Daly led the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on Aug. 24 and was poised for a podium finish -- maybe even his first career NTT IndyCar Series victory -- before a late-race caution for Sebastien Bourdais' wall contact in Turn 4 altered the pit sequences. Takuma Sato, Ed Carpenter and Tony Kanaan finished on the podium.
"Before Bourdais crashed we weren't going to finish any worse than third," said Daly, who finished sixth in Carlin's No. 59 Gallagher Chevrolet.
Daly finished fifth at Gateway for A.J. Foyt Racing in 2017.
"I love that track and something about it suits my driving style," Daly said.
Daly started 18th in this season's race. Not surprisingly, it had a few hair-raising moments.
"A lot of moments," Daly said, laughing. "We were definitely working for it."
Carlin was one of three teams Daly drove for in the recently completed season, giving him six teams in his NTT IndyCar Series career. He has had 18 races each with A.J. Foyt Racing and Dale Coyne Racing, five with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, four with Carlin, three with Harding Racing and two with Andretti Autosport -- that's 50 races in all, including seven in 2019.
BIG GAINERS OF 2019
21 POSITIONS
James Hinchcliffe, Indianapolis 500
17 POSITIONS
Matheus Leist, Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course
Tony Kanaan, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
16 POSITIONS
Santino Ferrucci, Indianapolis 500
15 POSITIONS
Graham Rahal, Detroit (second race)
Ed Carpenter, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
14 POSITIONS
Santino Ferrucci, St. Petersburg
Marco Andretti, Circuit of The Americas
Josef Newgarden, Barber Motorsports Park
Ryan Hunter-Reay, Indianapolis 500
Pippa Mann, Indianapolis 500
Santino Ferrucci, Texas Motor Speedway
Spencer Pigot, Iowa Speedway
13 POSITIONS
Jack Harvey, Circuit of The Americas
Marcus Ericsson, Barber Motorsports Park
Marco Andretti, Detroit (second race)
Zach Veach, Iowa Speedway
Matheus Leist, Portland International Raceway
12 POSITIONS
Sebastien Bourdais, Circuit of The Americas
Tony Kanaan, Circuit of The Americas
Sage Karam, Indianapolis 500
Felix Rosenqvist, Road America
Sebastien Bourdais, Iowa Speedway
Marco Andretti, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
Conor Daly, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
Charlie Kimball, Portland International Raceway
Sebastien Bourdais, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca