IndyCar: Conor Daly clearly deserves a full-time opportunity in 2020

By Asher Fair | Aug 30, 2019

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 08: Connor Daly of the United States, driver of the #59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet, walks during the NTT IndyCar Series DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 08, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Based on what he has accomplished at Carlin throughout the 2019 IndyCar season, Conor Daly has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he deserves to be in the series as a full-time driver next year.

Finishing in 10th place in the Indianapolis 500 driving for Andretti Autosport, winners of three of the last five runnings of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” at the time, is impressive when you’ve previously competed in the race five times and recorded a top finish of 21st. But even Conor Daly will tell you that it’s not going to secure you a full-time IndyCar ride.

What it did secure for the 27-year-old Noblesville, Indiana native, however, was a smaller opportunity — a smaller opportunity to show that he belongs in America’s premier open-wheel series on a full-time basis, which could, in turn, lead to a bigger opportunity.

After Carlin’s Max Chilton announced that he would no longer be competing in oval races following his failure to qualify for the Indy 500, Carlin were left searching for a replacement to drive his #59 Chevrolet.

More from IndyCar

The race at Texas Motor Speedway was scheduled to take place just four days after Chilton’s announcement.

Who was ready and waiting for the call after having the race of his life and mixing it up late with the leaders at Indy in as high as fourth place?

Conor Daly.

Carlin entered IndyCar last season, and they have struggled mightily ever since. To this day, there are many fans who consider them, as a whole, the slowest team in the series, and the fact that two of their three cars along with the Carlin-supported McLaren car were the three cars that failed to qualify for this year’s Indy 500 backed this up.

But rookie Patricio O’Ward showed us that Carlin aren’t as bad as they have seemed by finishing in eighth place in his first start of the season and just the second start of his IndyCar career at Circuit of the Americas.

Daly has only added to that vindication.

In 27 starts behind the wheel of the #59 Chevrolet since Carlin joined IndyCar last season, Chilton’s top finish is 11th place, and he has recorded just two other top 13 finishes.

Yet in his first start driving the #59 Chevrolet for an unfamiliar team at a high-speed oval track, Daly matched Chilton’s best finish with an 11th place effort.

After impressing the team in this race, he ended up being confirmed at Carlin for the race at Iowa Speedway, and after another solid run there, he was confirmed at the team for the season’s final two oval races at Pocono Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

In four starts behind the wheel of the #59 Chevrolet in oval races this season, Daly didn’t finish lower than 13th. He recorded one 13th place finish at Iowa Speedway, two 11th place finishes at Texas Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway and a sixth place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, by far the team’s best ever finish in an oval race.

There are no two ways about it; Daly makes teams better.

He had no business recorded five top six finishes, including a career-high second place finish, in his rookie season driving for Dale Coyne Racing three years ago. He had no business leading the 10th most laps among all drivers that season.

Yet he did.

He had no business recording a top five finish and three other top 10 finishes for A.J. Foyt Enterprises the following year when their cars were practically magnetically attracted to the rear of the field.

Yet he did.

Put Daly on any team full-time, and he is going to thrive. Put him on a top-tier team, and he will contend for race wins regularly. Put him on a mid-pack/back of the pack team, and he will outperform his equipment on a weekly basis.

He has proven it throughout his whole career.

dark. Next. Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time

Conor Daly doesn’t “deserve” to drive in IndyCar full-time next year. He has earned the right to do so. Hopefully he gets that opportunity after several years of patiently waiting for the phone to ring.

He is set to finish the season driving for Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports as the replacement for Marcus Ericsson in this Sunday’s race at Portland International Raceway, and he is set to drive for Andretti Autosport in the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

And with something still to prove, he is hungry.