On 10 February, The Checkered Flag had the opportunity to speak with NTT IndyCar Series veteran Conor Daly as he prepares for what he hopes to be his Daytona 500 début.
Below is the full transcript of the interview. Some text has been altered from the actual dialogue to improve readability and remove verbal pauses.
An article summarising the interview can be read here.
Transcript
TCF: From the outside, it seems like the deal to run Daytona came together pretty late. I know you already raced with the #50 team last year, but can you break down how the deal for Daytona came together, like who approached who with the idea to race it?
CD: Yeah, for sure. I mean, honestly, at the end of the IndyCar season last year, Todd Ault from BitNile.com, he asked me if I wanted to race NASCAR. And I was like, ‘I mean, yeah, obviously, of course.’ And I didn’t really know if that was legit or not. Turns out it was. We were racing at the Roval not too long afterwards. The team I guess liked having me there and then there was, you know, Tony (Eury Jr.) and I worked really well together. They saw a lot in the race that I guess that they liked and so they expressed some interest to have me back.
I know Todd and BitNile.com, they are using motorsport in as much as they can to market their business, to expand and grow, and so we have the IndyCar season already locked in which is our main focus, our main goal. But to have an opportunity to do Daytona was kind of thrown in with a few of the other races that we have planned as well. So we weren’t originally going to do it until a few weeks ago. They had the car. It was ready to go. The upside was very good and the downside was really, you know, we kind of already know we’re the underdog so if something happens, we don’t make it, it doesn’t change the fact that we’re still going to try to do other races. That was kind of the decision making and very, very thankful for it. It’s an incredible event to be a part of and as a huge race fan ever since birth, to be able to have said, hopefully, that I’ve done the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500 is really, really cool.
TCF: So BitNile is sponsoring your Cup car, and they’re also sponsoring your IndyCar for another year. Since this will be the first time in your career that you’re full-time with a single team in back-to-back seasons and they’ve been with you both years, how important has BitNile’s backing been to providing stability for your career?
CD: I mean, honestly, it’s the only reason I’m here. It was very life changing from end of 2021 till now, didn’t know if I would have anything. And then now, we have everything, which is awesome. We really, really want to improve on the IndyCar side. At Ed Carpenter Racing, I think there’s an equal passion for improving both Rinus (VeeKay) and I where we think we really struggled last year from a car standpoint, but we also know that we had a great car at the Indy 500 the last two years, so a chance to win certainly in 2021 and a great chance again last year to at least be in the top three. I don’t know if we had the winning car, but we for sure could have finished in the top three. But everything has to be perfect there, so that’s a great place to be.
There’s a couple of places this year that we will be going back to finally for the second time on the IndyCar side, which are places that I love. Iowa last year, we qualified third and in St. Louis, we had a great race going until we had some mechanical failures.
There’s a lot of places where I can’t wait to get back to with this team and we are so young in our experience level at certain places. So there’s a lot of interesting stuff this year, a lot of repaves for tracks. Detroit’s new, you know, there’s all kinds of stuff that will be different. So it’s an exciting partnership. BitNile.com launches on March 1st, which is perfectly lined up with the beginning of the IndyCar season, and it’s something I’m really excited about because I think the consumer fanbase that all of our fans, no matter if you’re NASCAR, IndyCar, F1, will enjoy it.
TCF: Even though IndyCar doesn’t race at Daytona, is there anything you can apply from IndyCar, especially at the bigger ovals where drafting is important, to racing there?
CD: Honestly, it’s tough to say. I’ll know more after next Wednesday or next Thursday. But I think in general, the patience that I’ve tried to work on in IndyCar and the aero platform of the IndyCar is obviously a little bit more powerful. But from what I hear in this new Cup car, you know, the aero side is a little bit more powerful as well. So it’s something that I’m excited to experience. It will be hard because no practice, that sucks. Going into it, just a qualifying lap, is going to be a real challenge because you know you don’t want to lose the draft. Losing the draft right out the gate would be a real challenge. I hope to at least stay in it for a little bit to experience what that feels like. But there’s so much that can happen really quickly in that race and it can easily go from a decent day to a really awful one, so you just want to make sure you stay in it.
And when you’re coming to the last lap of that Duel, you either have the person that you need to beat behind you, or they’re right there and you can take advantage of the situation with the draft and someone hopefully pushing you to help you.
TCF: Regardless of how you make the race, whether it’s qualifying or the Duel, do you feel any pressure in making it, especially since #50 team made it last year with Kaz (Grala)?
CD: You froze up there for a second.
TCF: Oh, sorry. Is this working now?
CD: You froze up there for a second. My bad.
TCF: This should work now. Anyway…
Regardless of how it’s done, whether it’s qualifying or the Duel, do you feel any pressure in making the 500, especially since the #50 team made it last year with Kaz?
CD: Honestly, I don’t because I think people know that I have zero experience doing this. It’s something that… There will always be contributing factors. I think whether we make it or not, I’m going to gain a lot of experience. I’m going to gain 62+ laps of experience that I didn’t have in the past, right? In case we want to come back hopefully for next year.
I’m sure several people will see it several different ways. But from what I’ve been told by other drivers, it’s like, ‘Look, this is going to be monumentally difficult. You’re going up against 23XI, Jimmie Johnson with his team, Kaulig, Front Row Motorsports, RCR, like teams that all have cars in that race anyway.’ And we’re showing up with just our one car. It’s great to be a part of the Chevrolet family. I think they’ve told me that Chevrolets are strong, which is nice.
But you know what? I don’t care about pressure as much anymore. I already know that I put enough pressure on myself because I want to do well. I don’t want to be off. I don’t want to lose the draft. I don’t want to be bad. I want to be successful. So I already put enough pressure on myself to be good at this.
TCF: You’re going up against some pretty big names just to make the race, probably none bigger than Jimmie. You’ve raced against him on your home turf in IndyCar and now you’re on his, does that sort of raise the stakes for you in a way, or really against any of the other open guys?
CD: I think honestly, all of them are good drivers, but obviously I know Jimmie really well. I know Travis (Pastrana) really well, and I know Travis is going to have a tough challenge as well because he hasn’t done much, well, any Cup racing at all. And it’s been many, many years since he’s been in an Xfinity car. I know he’s going to have the Truck race to do, which is gaining him some experience, which is great. He’s been racing down in Florida all week long. So he’s got his body and mind ready, which I’m a little bit jealous of, but I’m pretty confident Jimmie’s gonna make it on speed, depending on how that goes.
The perfect scenario is all three of us make it because I love racing against Jimmie, I love racing against Travis, and they’re probably the best friends that I have in that field right now because I’ve seen them more often. I mean, I know Noah Gragson really, really well and a few of those other guys. But yeah, Travis and Jimmie, I’ve seen a lot over the last couple of years.
TCF: Once Daytona is over, what are your other NASCAR plans for the rest of the year? I know you’re going to run COTA and Indy, but do you know what other races you’re going to run, or at least where you’d like to race?
CD: Yeah, there’s a couple of places that are for sure on our watchlist of races to do. The COTA race will be great. I love COTA and I think the fact that there’s no stages at the road courses too makes for some interesting strategy plays. I know Tony Eury Jr.’s looking forward to that.
But other than that, the Indy double is great. I know we’ve kind of looked at Talladega. I know Watkins Glen I would love to do because I love Watkins Glen, but we’ll see. There’s a potential for a few. It all depends on a lot of how the IndyCar stuff is going as well and what we can afford to do timing-wise. So we’ll see what happens but I’m just glad that we get it going next week and get the body and back into race mode.
TCF: Speaking of Indianapolis, you’re going to be doing IndyCar and NASCAR there on the same weekend. Do you think there will be any challenges in switching from one car to the other in such a short period of time?
CD: You know what, it will be tough. But I love that stuff. I mean, I feel like I know so much about the IndyCar that I’m very comfortable (to) just jump in that and go, and the NASCAR Cup car, probably be a little bit different. But I’ve done this for so many years now, which is weird to say, but you have the ability to switch certain things on and off in your mind and even the seating position itself is so different in the Cup car compared to the IndyCar that it’s almost a different driving style immediately just by sitting in it. So it’ll be tough for sure, but I will get the most track time of anyone that weekend. I don’t necessarily see that being a negative.
But that weekend in particular, I am super excited about, because I love racing in Indianapolis. It’s my hometown, getting to race in front of my family and friends there is super meaningful. It’ll be tough on my body, I know that, but just to finish the race there and have a decent day would mean a lot to me and a lot to our sponsor too. So I can’t wait for the chance and you know, to be the only one doing it, that’s pretty unique in itself.
TCF: While we’re on the topic of sort of doing Double Duty, of course with Kyle Larson set to do it, if the opportunity presents itself, would you ever see yourself trying the Indy 500/Coke 600 double?
CD: I don’t think I would do that until I win the Indy 500. I think the goal is to win the Indy 500 first. I would never want to take away any focus from Indy because that really does mean the most to me. I had a lot of people asking but yeah, right now, it’s not worth it for me to do. You need to have more credentials like Kurt Busch or Kyle Larson or even Kyle Busch if he ever decides to do it. I’d have to have more credentials. Tony Stewart, you know the guys like that who have done it, John Andretti, Robby Gordon, those are very historic names that are very successful, so I’d need to win the 500 first before I even consider it.
TCF: Are there any differences in how you prepare for an IndyCar race versus for NASCAR?
CD: It’s funny because I was just at the simulator yesterday at Chevrolet’s facility in Charlotte and the Chevy IndyCar simulator’s right next door to the Chevy NASCAR simulator. So did a full day in the IndyCar simulator and then jumped in the NASCAR simulator right next door. Trying to prepare as much as possible.
But there’s way less data acquisition that you can look at. For an IndyCar race, we have a ton of data we can look at. We can look at everything. But there’s not as much on the NASCAR side, certainly with my team because they don’t have that, so our team doesn’t have that type of data collection or anything of that nature. There’s not much I can do other than study onboard videos, look at how the races have gone in the past, and even races before last year almost aren’t really as relevant because the car is so different now. So studying all of last year’s stuff, there’s a Denny Hamlin onboard from the Duel that was really good to watch. There was basically just onboard cameras from the 500 last year that I’ve been watching.
So yeah, it’s hard to prepare for a NASCAR race because there’s just not as much information as I would say you get on the IndyCar side, but still, you got to do everything you can do.
TCF: By extension, how big of a culture shift was it when you entered NASCAR for the first time? Which drivers would you say have helped you get used to life in NASCAR?
CD: Yeah, that’s a great question. Honestly, the guys who have been most helpful for me are friends of mine that I’ve known a long time. A.J. Allmendinger and I were rookies at the Indy 500 together in 2013 so I’ve known him, I’ve been a fan of his before I even knew him, but I talked to him all the time. He was the first one that I called when this Daytona opportunity came about. He’s the first one I called when we were talking about the Roval. We spent thirty minutes on the phone talking about the Roval and shift points and what to expect.
Chase Briscoe as well. I talk to Chase Briscoe every day, so Chase Briscoe has been super helpful. He’s been a guy that I’ve used as a resource. Honestly, other than that, a lot of people have been helpful. I talked to Austin Cindric a lot at a Colts game not too long ago, and that was good to chat with him a little bit. Denny Hamlin is of course in the Dirty Mo Media podcast gang with me now as well, and so I’ve chatted with him a little bit.
People have been for the most part helpful and that’s cool. Noah Gragson is a really good friend. He stayed at my house a bunch, so I’ll try to ask him some questions; even though he’s a rookie, he has done this event before. Everyone’s been pretty cool. Corey LaJoie has been a guy as well that I enjoy communicating with. I like his whole career and what he’s done. I think he’s a very talented driver in maybe not the highest level of equipment that he might be able to use to the best of his abilities, so he’s done a great job and we’ll just see what happens.
