When Conor Daly won the USF Pro 2000 Championship in 2010 for Juncos Racing, Daly couldn’t have imagined the lasting impact the seven-win, nine-pole season would have 14-years later.
On Aug. 13, Juncos Hollinger Racing announced Daly as the driver of its No. 78 Chevrolet for the final five NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season.
“I remember Conor maybe in 2003 go-kart time, then in Indy Pro 2000, one of our best championships ever,” team co-owner Ricardo Juncos said. “I think together we have a lot of good things.”
Beginning with Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at World Wide Technology Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network), this is the eighth time Daly has been called to an NTT INDYCAR SERIES team in a substitute role.
“If you followed my career, it's been quite a tornado,” Daly said. “It’s been crazy; it's been up and down. When it's been up, I'm very, very proud of it. When it's been tough, there's always things that either I will take responsibility for, or I will understand why.”
Two years after his only NTT INDYCAR SERIES start in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 competing for AJ Foyt Racing, Daly received a phone call from Dale Coyne while eating breakfast in the hospitality area during the 2015 Long Beach race weekend. The seat for the No. 18 Honda that weekend was his despite not having raced in 23 months.
That set the tone for a wild career for Daly, filled with last-minute appearances, full-time seasons and racing in multiple different disciplines around the world.
This season, Daly finished 10th for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in the 108th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on May 26, his third consecutive top-10 finish in the race. He next drove for Rette Jones Racing in the ARCA Menards Series in June at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, finishing eighth. Last month, he raced in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Indianapolis Raceway Park then a day later raced for Sam Hunt Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“This is what I do, though,” he said. “I try to work hard just providing myself opportunities. I want to be involved in a competitive situation. This happened to come up. Obviously, I want to be as competitive as possible for Ricardo, for this team. There's points to score that need to be scored. I want to be that guy. I think with this group, for sure, it's highly possible.”
With desire to advance the car from 25th in the entrant standings, Juncos made the change from Agustin Canapino and knew Daly was among the top drivers on the list to call. He never lost faith in Daly’s abilities, and with an opportunity to rekindle the magic they made together over a decade ago, Juncos knew Daly could handle the pressure-packed situation.
“He did really good things when you see what he was able to do,” Juncos said of why Daly. “He's talking about the different teams. It's obvious he's very good. I remember when he was doing Indy NXT, he was leading the championship when he decided to go to Europe. He was beating Josef Newgarden.
“He's one of the good ones. I never had a doubt on him, never. We'll see now what we can do for these five races.”
The respect is mutual and being coveted by Juncos is music to Daly’s ears, especially having an opportunity to prove his worth over five races instead of one.
“In the end, it feels really good to hear him say that,” he said. “I think I'm not at the young end of my INDYCAR career. Like, I know that. I have so much that I want to do. I have so much that we train every day for, for these chances to come about.
“Even if it was one race, I would go about it the same way. But this is an opportunity to go and find success together. This team is right on the verge of getting trophies and bringing home some champagne to the race shop. I would love to be the guy to do that.
“I'm excited, but my life exists for the next six weeks, then who knows what happens. That is the way I've had to live, which is usually tougher for maximum performance. I'm going to do the best I can, put everything I've got into it and show them I really want to bust my butt to deliver some results for these guys.”