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IndyCar: Conor Daly to replace Marcus Ericsson, drive for Arrow SPM at Portland

By Asher Fair

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 24: Connor Daly of the United States driver of the #25 USAF Andretti Autosport Honda stands on the grid during Carb Day for the 103rd Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 24, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 24: Connor Daly of the United States driver of the #25 USAF Andretti Autosport Honda stands on the grid during Carb Day for the 103rd Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 24, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
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Conor Daly is set to replace the Formula 1-bound Marcus Ericsson at Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for this Sunday’s IndyCar race, the Grand Prix of Portland, at Portland International Raceway.

Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ Marcus Ericsson having traveled overseas to be on call for the Alfa Romeo Racing Formula 1 team for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

As a result, Conor Daly has been named his replacement behind the wheel of the #7 Honda for this Sunday’s IndyCar race, the Grand Prix of Portland.

Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports confirmed this news.

Daly has competed in five of the first 15 races on the 17-race 2019 IndyCar schedule. With the confirmation that he is set to compete in this Sunday afternoon’s race at Portland International Raceway, he is set to compete in seven races before the season ends.

The 27-year-old Noblesville, Indiana native has already been confirmed as Andretti Autosport’s fifth driver for the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday, September 22.

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Daly has never previously competed at the 12-turn, 1.967-mile (3.166-kilometer) Portland International Raceway natural terrain road course in Portland, Oregon, as the series made its return to the track last year and he did not have a ride.

In his five starts far this season, he has recorded an average finish of 10.20 with no finishes of below 13th place. He drove for Andretti Autosport in the Indianapolis 500 and finished in 10th before driving for Carlin in each of the other four oval races on the schedule.

He finished in 11th place in the races at Texas Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway, 13th in the race at Iowa Speedway and a season-high sixth in the race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, a track at which he finished in a season-high fifth in his first start two seasons ago driving for A.J. Foyt Enterprises.

Daly has driven for Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports before. He drove for the team in four races in the 2015 season as the replacement for the injured James Hinchcliffe, who is set to be his teammate in this Sunday afternoon’s 105-lap race behind the wheel of the #5 Honda.

However, he really only drove for the team in three races, as a mechanical issue during the parade laps prior to the Indy 500 ended his race before it even began. He recorded a sixth place finish, a career-high finish and his first ever top 16 finish at the time, in the second of two races at the Raceway on Belle Isle in what was just the fifth start of his IndyCar career.

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The green flag is set to get the Portland Grand Prix underway from Portland International Raceway at 3:35 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 1. NBC’s live broadcast of the 2019 IndyCar season’s penultimate race is slated to begin at 3:00 p.m. ET.