The holidays are here and it’s only fitting that Conor Daly has all the giddiness of a child awaiting his present on Christmas morning.
That’s because Daly already knows what he is getting – the No. 20 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing for the 104th Indianapolis 500 and the street and road courses on the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series schedule.
“Without a doubt, it feels good,” Daly told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “I’ve been able to relax with the family and that is nice. All is well, and I can’t wait to get in the new car for the new year.”
Daly will share the No. 20 Chevrolet with owner/driver Ed Carpenter, who will continue to be behind the wheel of that machine on the ovals. Daly will be the team’s third driver in the 500, and he will be representing one of the fastest teams at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In many ways, this may be Daly’s best shot at winning at Indianapolis 500.
“I certainly think so,” Daly said. “There are less cars in this scenario than last year at Andretti Autosport in 2019. Instead of being a fifth or sixth car, I will be a third car here. And I will have been racing for ECR all year long. It will be a really comfortable environment, a good situation to be in.
“They had all three cars in the ‘Fast Nine’ last year and that is very impressive. But it’s more than the Indianapolis 500. I think this team can do the job at most tracks. They will learn what I need out of the car and we want to be competitors at every race; not just Indy.”
Most of Daly’s previous racing experience has been in street and road course racing and his only oval race in 2020 will be the 500. But Daly’s best race last season with Andretti was at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. He started 18th and raced all the way up to first place before finishing sixth.
“I do love the ovals,” Daly said. “The last couple years, I’ve done a lot of them and it has gone a lot better for me. I still want to do Gateway next year. I don’t know if we can add a third car for Gateway because I would hate to miss that race.
“It’s nice to go back to my road course roots. It will be good to get a good rhythm going for my first few races and figure out where we are at.”
For Daly, it’s been a long, strange trip over his career to get him to this point. He’s one of the most popular drivers in the series and has had full-time rides at Dale Coyne Racing in 2016 and A.J. Foyt Racing in 2017. Other than that, he has bounced around the paddock looking for his next opportunity.
The demand for IndyCar seats is high and Daly has a lot of competition for fellow drivers trying to get an opportunity. To put this deal together after experiencing some of the hardship is extremely gratifying.
“It really has been hard,” Daly said. “It’s been tough on me and on my family as well because they see what I go through on the internal side. It’s been tough; it’s been a difficult journey, but each year has gotten better. More races in 2018, seven in 2019 and now 13 races in 2020.
“Step-by-step process. I have to perform to stay relevant to get back to fulltime, but I think we will be able to do that.”
Daly and Carpenter are both from Indianapolis and are very popular in the community and the state. In many ways, they are the “Hometown Heroes” at the Indianapolis 500.
“The hometown deal is awesome,” Daly said. “I see the respect Ed gets from the fans and I love their reaction when I get to drive there. It’s something the whole state can be proud of and hopefully we can make them proud in return.
“I’ve known Ed forever and have a lot of respect for him. In the era I grew up in, Ed was always on pole at Indianapolis and that is pretty cool. It’s something I’ve seen from a distance and now I can see it first-hand. Ed is an incredible passion for racing and now I get to see it first-hand.”