Will Conor Daly's racing life really begin at 30?
If the best part of life really does begin at age 30, as Conor Daly has been told, then all the angst he endured in his 20s will be worth it.
Daly, who turned 30 on Dec. 15, begins the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season this weekend with the security of strong sponsorship with BitNile on his full-season ride with Ed Carpenter Racing. He will drive the No. 20 Chevrolet on Sunday in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
It’s a long-awaited change in Daly’s racing routine, which basically was no routine the past four years. Since his last full-season ride in 2017 with A.J. Foyt Racing, Daly has driven for six different teams. The past two years he split time between Carpenter and Carlin Racing.
“Everyone tells me that your 30s are when you start living it,” Daly told AutoRacingDigest.com. “It seems to be that way so far.”
Photo: IndyCar
Daly’s deal with Carpenter gives him stability in a career marked with jumping from ride to ride and serious personal financial risk. He drove the 2016 season without a salary for Dale Coyne Racing, and in 2018 he took out a six-figure loan to round out the budget needed to race the Indianapolis 500 with Coyne/Thom Burns Racing.
“It’s just nice to have a job,” Daly said. “That’s what we all as drivers aim to do, to be employed at the highest level. It’s been an interesting few months.”
Until late last year, Daly had enjoyed a nice relationship with the U.S. Air Force since 2018. The USAF backing was built on one-year agreements that were never secure until late fall because that’s when government budgets were finalized. It was far from ideal, given financial commitments needed in IndyCar, but he made it work.
Until it didn’t.
Daly learned last November that the Air Force had dropped its backing for 2022. He had other sponsors in line, none that would afford him a full-season IndyCar ride, and he considered other racing options such as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He celebrated his 30th birthday in December with uncertainty for 2022.
In January, BitNile Holdings, which specializes in cryptocurrencies and the field of decentralized finance, became primary sponsor of Carpenter’s No. 20 car.
“It was an interesting few weeks, but life is great now,” Daly said. “I’ve got the most substantial deal in my career with BitNile and all their partners, and Carpenter Racing is in a two-year program.”
The deal means Daly will work with the same people throughout the season, including personnel with the Carpenter team he’s familiar with, especially lead engineer Pete Craik and race strategist Tim Broyles.
“It’s a good group of people to get back together with,” he said. “It’s super tough when you have to jump around because there are new people, new names to learn, new situations.
"Every engineer has a different idea on how they want to run the car and you kind of have to adjust your driving style to each one. There were a lot of great moments as a substitute driver driving for different teams. But when it comes to true performance overall, you’re probably not going to get the best out of yourself with a one-weekend showing with a team.
“But now, I can finally be with the same group of people for the first time since 2017, which is wild to think about. That’s half a decade ago. It’s really cool to be back in a normal driver lifestyle where you have one situation and focus on one thing.”
Daly looks back on the chances he took, especially the financial risk, and says they were worth it.
“I’ve never been one to avoid a racing opportunity no matter how terrible financially it works out for me,” he said. “A lot of people would say it’s stupid, but it worked out. You’ve got to make things happen sometimes. If I didn’t (take out a six-figure loan) in 2018, the U.S. Air Force relationship might not have been anything. In the end, it turned out to be a four-year deal. We obviously jumped around a little bit from team to team, but that basically launched me into where I am now.
“Betting on myself that one year turned out to be six years worth of driving.”
And it clears his mind to conduct some important unfinished business in May. Daly led 40 laps in the 2021 Indianapolis 500 before he hit a tire that came off Graham Rahal’s car. It damaged the nose of Daly’s car, and he finished 13th.
“There’s a deep burning desire to get back there and get to the front again,” he said. “I have a lot to do in IndyCar in general, but also at the Indianapolis 500 after last year. For some reason there’s a mental calmness when you’re leading the race. I love being out front because it allows me to focus on one thing, just driving, with no one in front. That’s how you’re supposed to feel.”
In a way, that’s a metaphor for the current state of Daly’s career. After years of sacrifice, he can worry about building speed and momentum in one car, with one team.