Conor J. Daly (born December 15, 1991) is an American racing driver. He is best known for competing in the IndyCar Series, last driving the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. He also competes occasionally in NASCAR, and has also raced in the GP2 Series, and Road to Indy.
Early racing career
Karting
At the age of 10, he began competing in karting and in 2006, he won the World Karting Association Grand Nationals. He progressed to car racing in 2007 and began racing cars full-time in 2008 in the Skip Barber National Championship, winning first place with 5 wins in 14 races, and Formula Ford.
On October 10, 2010, Daly finished runner-up at the RoboPong 200 all-star kart event at the New Castle Motorsports Park with teammate Graham Rahal. He finished runner-up to a team driven by Jay Howard and Bill McLaughlin Jr. The 2010 Izod IndyCar Series runner-up Will Power and ALMS driver Simon Pagenaud were 4th.
Star Mazda Championship
In 2009, he competed in the Star Mazda Championship for Andersen Racing and finished third in points with a win at New Jersey Motorsports Park. He returned to the series in 2010, driving for Juncos Racing. He became series champion after finishing in the top four positions in each of the twelve races, prior to clinching the title at Mosport International Raceway on August 28, 2010. He also set a series record of 9 poles and 7 wins en route to his championship.
Indy Lights
In 2011, Daly competed part-time in the Indy Lights series with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. His best result of the season was a win at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
In 2013, Daly returned to Indy Lights with a one-off appearance in the Houston race for Team Moore Racing, finishing third.
GP3 Series
Alongside his commitments in the Indy Lights series, Daly competed in GP3 in 2011 with Carlin Motorsport.
For 2012, Daly continued in GP3 driving, for the Lotus GP team. He took his maiden GP3 win in the second race of the season at Barcelona. In the second race at Monaco, he made contact with the damaged car of Dmitry Suranovich which launched Daly into a catch fence and forced the race to be red flagged.
For 2013 Daly remained in GP3, racing with the ART Grand Prix team. Daly captured one win at the Valencia Street Circuit feature race and placed third in the championship.
GP2 Series
Daly competed in the 2013 GP2 Series season season-opener at Sepang International Circuit with Hilmer Motorsport. He finished seventh in the sprint race and scored two championship points.
For 2014, Daly competed with Venezuela GP Lazarus for 18 of the 22 rounds, with a best finish of seventh place in the sprint race at the Hungaroring.
IndyCar Series
Part-time rides (2013–2015) Daly drove in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 for A. J. Foyt Enterprises. He finished the race in 22nd position.
In 2015, Daly subbed in for Rocky Moran Jr. at the Long Beach GP with Dale Coyne Racing. He then returned for the 2015 Indianapolis 500 in the Smithfield Foods "Fueled by Bacon" special run by Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, but was forced to retire before the green flag due to a mechanical failure. He replaced James Hinchcliffe for 3 rounds following Hinchcliffe's injury from a practice crash leading up to the Indy 500. He finished sixth at the second race at Detroit.
Full-time with Coyne and Foyt (2016–2017) In 2016, Daly raced the full 2016 IndyCar season for Dale Coyne Racing. He led 56 laps at 5 different races, and finished 2nd in the first race at Detroit for his first career IndyCar podium. For the 2017 season, Daly raced the number 4 car for A. J. Foyt Enterprises.
Return to part-time (2018–19) Daly lost his ride with Foyt for 2018, but was signed by Coyne for the 2018 Indianapolis 500. His No. 17 car, fielded in conjunction with Thom Burns Racing, was sponsored by the United States Air Force.
In 2019, Andretti Autosport signed Daly to enter the Indianapolis 500, where he finished tenth. On June 4, 2019, he replaced Max Chilton at Carlin for the Texas Motor Speedway race, finishing 11th. Daly would replace Chilton at the remaining oval races for the season, with a best result of 6th place at Gateway. On August 29, 2019, Daly was announced as a replacement for Marcus Ericsson for the round at Portland as Ericsson had been called up by Alfa Romeo to be on reserve driver duty at the F1 race at Spa. Daly would also return to Andretti Autosport for the season finale.