Conor Daly at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (Photo: Chris Owens)
Conor Daly has interest in NASCAR for 2018
Racing News
American open-wheel racer Conor Daly expresses interest in NASCAR
Conor Daly, age 26, is an Indiana native. Naturally, he career path was open-wheel racing.
He began his career in go karts, following the Stars of Karting touring series. He then began a journey up the Indycar Series development ladder.
In 2009, he won the Star Mazda championship. He did it by setting a series record with 9 pole positions and 7 wins. From there, he moved into the Indy Lights program, just a single level below Indycar.
At the same time, Daly was pulling double duty. Simultaneously, Daly was competing in the GP3 series. That’s part of the F1 racing ladder. In 2014, he progressed to the GP2 Series, one level below F1.
At this point, Conor Daly became just one step away from the premier series on both sides of the world. He was 1 level below F1, the world championship touring series. All the while, he was also running the Indy Lights program, one level below the premier open wheel racing division in America.
In 2016, Daly finally got his shot. He was signed to drive for Dale Coyne Racing. He competed in a full season with the Verizon Indycar Seres. Last year, he drove for A.J. Foyt Racing.
In October, team owner A.J. Foyt announced that both Daly and Carlos Munoz would not return for 2018. This move came as a surprise to Daly.
“I’m very disappointed because I planned on being with A.J. for the immediate future and I thought things were looking good,” Daly told RACER back in October 2017.
“I just wish we could have spent at least one more year together because we made some nice progress at the end of this season,” Daly concluded his year-end thoughts.
At age 26, Daly is now likely too old to begin a F1 career. He’s more tune to finding a ride here in America.
2018
Today, Conor Daly is still on a search for a 2018 ride. He’s also open to more opportunities than just IndyCar.
“I’d love to try and do NASCAR stuff,” Daly stated on the Marshall Pruett Podcast.
He continued, “I’ve been trying to talk to XFINITY teams about the road course races. I think that would be very entertaining. I think it would be a great idea.”
“I obviously love my INDYCAR family. But if there’s no possibilities there and there seems to be some chances to be had in the NASCAR world, then I’m certainly going to take it. Because I want to drive anything that I can.”
The first Indycar race is scheduled for March 11th, 2018 on the Streets of St. Petersburg.
The first NASCAR Xfinity Series road course is scheduled deep into the 2018 season. On August 11, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.