Conor Daly has revealed that the pieces are in place for him to contest the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 next season, and he hopes to be able to make a formal announcement in the near future.
Daly’s soon-to-be-revealed plans appear to cover the Indianapolis 500 alone, returning him to his frequent status as a part time IndyCar driver.
The past few seasons brought him more stability with a two year deal driving for Ed Carpenter Racing, but that relationship was terminated early when he was let go following the Detroit Grand Prix last season.
He’s been using the off season to search out a new ride, and revealed on his Speed Street podcast that he has the makings of a deal to contest the Indy 500 this upcoming May.
“It is now clear that I will be making an attempt to qualify for the Indy 500 next year,” said Daly.
“It’s not like ‘Hey, I’m going to do the 500,’ because obviously, who knows how many cars are going to be there. But it does now look like you can consider me in the running for competing in that event.
“We will not reveal any details, but just we wanted to give people a little heads up that hey, we’ve made some great progress and that progress is exciting.
“Again, that means no full season of IndyCar racing for me, but that’s fine. For me right now, the best possible scenario for my career was trying to do the Indy 500 with a great situation, which this will be if this all continues. Which it will, that’s why we’re telling you.
“Excited about that. We still have a lot of great potential for a more full time program as well, and I hope to know more about that by my birthday. Or by next week. Maybe it’s an early birthday present, we’ll see.”
Daly, who turns 32 on December 15, is no stranger to a part time schedule, but the only year he has raced in the Indy 500 alone was for his IndyCar debut in 2013.
There are only a couple known teams that would have availability for Daly for the largest race on the calendar, with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing’s vacant seat one of the most likely options that the journeyman was referencing.
