5 drivers who could attempt the next Memorial Day Double
By Logan Ploder
No. 5 - Conor Daly
As much as Conor Daly isn't a massive household name in global motorsport like the previous four drivers are, he is perhaps the most likely of all four to actually attempt the Memorial Day Double.
For starters, he is one of only two drivers on this list who have already competed in both IndyCar and NASCAR, along with Jimmie Johnson, and on top of that, he is the only driver of the five who has previously raced in both top-level series within the same season.
In 2022, Daly competed in the Daytona 500, and in 2023, he competed in that race as well as the race at Circuit of the Americas. In both seasons, he did so alongside his IndyCar duties.
Sure, he didn't have a ton of success in his three Cup Series starts, for a variety of reasons. But what his last two seasons have shown is that he is willing to do anything in American motorsport at virtually any time, no matter what else he has going on around it.
With the position he is in now, racing only the Indy 500 in 2024 with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing with Cusick Motorsports, it unfortunately doesn't appear as though he will be getting any full-time rides in the near future.
But that could fuel his desire to give the Memorial Day Double a shot. Like a lot of other part-time drivers who only compete at Indianapolis each year, Daly will likely have an Indy 500 ride again next season, meaning he's already halfway to securing his shot.
There are also very few drivers in America who take more pride in representing their origins and where they come from more than Daly does. As an Indiana native, he is looked at as a hero with all the locals when the Indy 500 takes place each year.
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Should he give the Memorial Day Double a go, he will become the first primarily IndyCar-based driver in quite a while to attempt to tackle it. And more importantly to him and the market, he would also become the first Indiana native since the great Tony Stewart to attempt it as he carries the Indiana flag on the state's most celebrated day.
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