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Daly working hard to play a part in next year’s IndyCar highlight reel

Conor Daly’s return as a full-time IndyCar Series driver with Juncos Hollinger Racing produced a number of highlights last season, which he hopes to parlay into a return engagement.

The Indiana native was a constant force for the team owned by Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger on ovals, where he earned top-10 finishes at four of the six races which complemented his oval podium for the team – its first – late in 2024.

Progress was limited on road and street courses, which resulted in Daly taking 18th in the championship; it was a familiar spot for JHR’s lead car as his predecessor Romain Grosjean placed 17th in 2024 and Callum Ilott drove it to 16th in 2023. Improving the team’s road racing package is where the team is concentrating its energies to break free of the 16th-18th-place reality it has faced for three straight seasons.

In kind, staying with the team and building on the positives is where the 33-year-old veteran has placed his focus, and to match the ambition, Daly’s been busy since the season finale at Nashville with recruiting additional sponsorship to make it possible to return.

“At the beginning of this year, it was a very worrying situation when we lost the Polkadot (crypto sponsorship) deal, but we were able to raise some money for sure,” Daly told RACER. “It wasn’t enough to really be super comfortable and we were missing a few things, but everyone still worked really hard and it was really impressive.

“Honestly, the most impressive thing that I had all year is the car that the team gave me at the Indy 500; it was capable of winning the race. And we were able to demonstrate that when nothing goes wrong, we can be super competitive together, so that is reason number one why I want to be back with the team. And what’s really positive is all of our partners, all of the sponsors that we were able to bring on, they want to be back with me. I have the most sponsorship right now I’ve ever had in my career, so I feel like we’re in a good place – as good a place as you can be for where we are now in the offseason.”

Daly is keeping an eye on all available IndyCar opportunities, but sticking with JHR is his preferred option. James Black/IMS

Daly also knows he isn’t the only driver in the paddock who wants to occupy the No. 76 JHR Chevy next year. Among the known free agents angling for seats, multiple sources told RACER former Dale Coyne Racing driver Rinus VeeKay was headed to AJ Foyt Racing, but new and significant doubt has been cast on that move, which could put the Dutchman in play at JHR and Rahal Letterman Lanig an Racing.

Former Chip Ganassi Racing driver and 2024 IndyCar Rookie of the Year Linus Lundqvist is known to be talking with DCR, JHR and RLL, and there’s a litany of Indy NXT, Formula 2, and ex-F1 drivers trying to stake their claim on the few opportunities left to join the IndyCar grid in 2026.

According to Sting Ray Robb’s manager Pieter Rossi, who has made outreaches to the media this week, Daly’s JHR teammate will return to the sister No. 77 Chevy next season, and when asked by RACER, Rossi said there was a “zero-percent chance” someone other than Robb will be piloting the car when the championship resumes.

Provided his confidence is rewarded, the No. 76 is where to look for any immediate driver developments. As he waits to see if he’ll receive a return invitation from JHR, Daly is being smart about the free agency process. That means speaking with all the known teams, Foyt included, with available drives.

“We have talked to every team that has an open seat or could have an open seat,” Daly said. “We have definitely done our research, both me and my manager, but at this time of year, it’s murky. There’s a lot of dominoes that have to fall. I know what drivers are coming after my seat for sure. But we have made sure to understand the landscape of what else is out there.

“But first, I want to show good faith to the people that have given me a chance to be back in IndyCar full-time on a very low level of budget this year – we were all hoping for more, but we busted our butts and we even signed last-minute deals for these last two races that weren’t there in the first place. We’re really trying hard to raise money for this team, because we want to support the team.”