Conor Daly

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