"One Weekend At A Time": Conor Daly Prepares For New Gig With JHR

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SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Conor Daly has raced for 11 different teams ever since coming into the NTT IndyCar Series in 2013.

No other driver in the series can say they have raced for virtually every team in the paddock. The only teams Daly, a native of Noblesville, has not raced for are Team Penske and Chip Ganassi. Now, prepares for his first new IndyCar ride since 2020 with Juncos-Hollinger Racing for the full 2025 season.

“It all happened so fast, though, and it was so much fun,” Daly said of his deal with JHR coming together.

As a seasoned veteran of the series, Juncos appears to be relying on Daly to help move the team forward. They are still the youngest team in the IndyCar paddock having come into the series full-time just a couple of years ago.

“I’m going to get my own desk in the engineering office. I want to have a computer so I can finally be fully integrated into the team systems,” Daly said. “All of those things are what you are supposed to do as a racing driver at the highest level. That’s going to be nice to be a part of.”

It sure seems Daly has the stability he has been searching for ever since his last full-time deal came to an end in the middle of the 2022 season. He and Ed Carpenter Racing parted ways after the 2023 Indianapolis 500.

Since then, Daly has reverted back to his journeyman role in the series driving for teams who need a substitute on any given weekend. That has been the case for ten races he’s run in the last two years for Meyer Shank, Dale Coyne, Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan, and Juncos.

Daly also drove the 2024 Indianapolis 500 in a one-off capacity with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

Over his career, Daly says he’s had to adopt a mentality of “taking it one weekend at a time.” Now with a steady ride, it’s a mentality he doesn’t intend to shake off.

“You never really know what’s going to happen, and we’ve seen people just kicked out,” Daly said. “I’ve been kicked out. It’s just something that you have to be ready to give everything you’ve got, every single weekend, because everyone’s attention span is very short, and you’re only as good as your last lap that you’ve done.”

Daly comes into a team in Juncos-Hollinger that has struggled to garner consistent footing both with its drivers and in its front office. Last year, Juncos was essentially collateral damage in a social media scandal involving its now-former driver Agustin Canapino.

Canapino, a native of Argentina, was brought in by JHR in 2023 to appeal more to a South American audience. However, fans of Canapino were the source of death threats and other violent rhetoric being perpetuated against other drivers in the series, who at one point or another were involved in on-track incidents with Canapino.

Canapino’s apparent dismissal of these threats did not help things. This resulted in him and the team parting ways near the end of the 2024 season and opened the door for Daly. He came in and finished the season in the 78-car for JHR, which led to him securing a full-time seat with the team.

Despite the turmoil that led to his ride this year, Daly is confident the team is poised for growth.

“It just feels like a great growing environment and a team that obviously — it takes a while to find success in this sport,” Daly said. “Like any new team that’s come in, it takes you some time. We’re working our way there, and I’m excited to be a part of the journey.”