Reigning and three-time series champion Alex Palou and Conor Daly are flying the NTT INDYCAR SERIES flag in the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS sports car race Oct. 4-6 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Palou is joining Lone Star Racing for the eight-hour endurance race for the Intercontinental GT Challenge on Saturday, Oct. 5, sharing the No. 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the IGTC Pro class alongside co-drivers Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz.
Versatile veteran Daly will join BMW factory driver Connor De Phillippi and Kenton Koch behind the wheel of the No. 92 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3, continuing a program he began this season with selected starts in Fanatec GT World Challenge America events.
Spaniard Palou has sealed his legend with three NTT INDYCAR SERIES championships in the last four seasons and drove a prototype in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2022 and 2024. But his GT sports car racing experience is limited, so he looks forward to the challenge.
“I’ve done GT racing in the past in Japan, but I would say it’s been more than five years now,” Palou said. “I’m extremely excited to be giving it another go.”
Palou has two career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories on the IMS road course, in 2023 and this season. But he is excited to race at IMS at night, as the eight-hour race around the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit starts at 12:15 p.m. ET and ends in darkness at 8:15 p.m.
“I’ve driven night stints before in other races, but I think this will be completely different since I’ve never been to the Speedway at night,” Palou said. “In general, I’m excited to be racing against so many majorly talented drivers and teams in such a big setting. I’m really pumped to be a part of it, and I’m eager to get in the car and see how it feels. Hopefully we’ll be in the fight, and I can help the team so we can be on top.”
Daly is eager to race this season in the 8 Hour after assuming a different role last year at the track.
“The funny thing is, I was a spotter at last year’s event,” Daly said. “I got to see the Pirelli GT4 races and a lot of the Indy 8 Hour, which was really cool. I think it's awesome, anytime you get to go to IMS it's an amazing honor and a great privilege. To get to see this level of GT3 competition there is really exciting.”
And the good-natured rivalry between Palou and Daly about this event already has started.
“It’s very fun that I’ll get the chance to race against other INDYCAR drivers in this race too,” Palou said. “In Nashville, Conor and I were actually trash talking each other about this race.
“We’re both super thrilled, but I think we’re equally excited about trying to be on the same level as the rest of these amazing drivers that will be on the grid. I’ll be doing everything I can to get up to speed as quickly as possible.”
Visit IMS.com for tickets and more information about the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS.