Conor Daly will be returning to Ed Carpenter Racing for the third year this season, but this time he will be driving for the team at every round on the IndyCar schedule.
Team owner Ed Carpenter has chosen to race in only the series’ oval races since 2014, and has hired drivers on a part-time basis to take over driving duties for the road and street courses.
Daly has filled this role since 2020, running with Carlin for the remaining rounds, but now has secured a full time seat thanks in part to a new sponsorship deal with BitNile.
When asked what having a full season with the same team means, he was quick to point out how much the stability will help get rid of the awkwardness of changing teams from week to week.
“Well, honestly it’s awesome,” said the charismatic Daly ahead of the season. “I have not had that since 2017. That’s a long time ago. I feel like I was a child back then.
“That was my second year in IndyCar at the time. A lot has changed since then. I was speaking to my engineer Pete yesterday. He’s like, ‘I’m really pumped to do the whole season with you.’
“It is awkward going from team to team. There’s no doubt about that. It’s just an odd thing. In racing you’re very much in-house, you know what I mean? You don’t want to share information with anybody else because you got to keep it in-house, keep your stuff going on.
“Everybody is a little bit like, Great to see you, where you going now? Someone else that we want to beat? Kind of an awkward situation.
“It will be something that I’ve craved for a long time just to get back to. It will be nice not taking stuff from one locker to another.”
Daly will be driving alongside team-mate Rinus VeeKay, who also returns to Ed Carpenter Racing this year.
Due to Daly’s full season deal, Carpenter is currently only scheduled to drive in the Indy 500, but is actively searching for funding to run in a third car at other events as well.
