Conor Daly shares note to younger self: 'Write your own superhero story'
Conor Daly - Driver for Juncos Hollinger Racing
This first-person essay is part of a special series leading up to the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25 on FOX in which INDYCAR drivers penned letters about what the historic race means to them. Read them all here .
Dear newborn infant baby Conor,
When you get old enough to read this, you will have already been to several Indy 500's because you were going to the track since the day you were born.
As frustrating as it was to watch the on-track sessions in "Racing Babies" (which was essentially daycare in a concrete prison under the tower terrace suites on the front straight), just wait until you get to take in every day of practice, qualifying and the race from a seat out front of suite 37 on the front straight.
You will begin to understand as you get older how much this race means to every team member, every driver, every fan that shows up just like you to watch this incredible event unfold. The feeling of cheering for the underdog small teams just to make the race will make you smile on qualifying weekend.
Then every year as you get older, maybe the cars will go a bit faster. What will next year's pole speed be? How is it possible to go over 230 mph? Do only superheroes have the ability to do this? That is what you will think.
It's hard to believe I get to tell you this, but you will get a chance to write your own superhero story.
You will get a chance to represent the town you grew up in.
You will get a chance to live out what you only thought was possible for others and not yourself.
You will get to feel a rush of adrenaline and passion like nothing else in this world when you stand alongside a race car with YOUR name on it, at the greatest racing facility on planet Earth.
The love you will develop for this absolutely ruthless yet beautiful sport will almost be considered psychotic!
The love you will develop for this absolutely ruthless yet beautiful sport will almost be considered psychotic!
When the national anthem plays every year, when "(Back Home Again in) Indiana" plays every year, you will cry every single time because of the incredible magic and indescribable aura the event possesses. The meaning of every day you get to spend around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or behind the wheel of a race car will be almost impossible to describe. The love you will develop for this absolutely ruthless yet beautiful sport will almost be considered psychotic!
Be thankful for every day you get to live this dream because it will NEVER get old.
You will wake up every day craving the Month of May, kissing the bricks and chugging milk more than anything else in life.
- Conor
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Player grades: Tyrese Haliburton stuns Thunder in 111-110 Game 1 loss to Pacers
Jun 5, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) makes the game winning shot over Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) during the fourth quarter during game one of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images OKLAHOMA CITY — Bringing the ball up, Tyrese Haliburton returned to his comfort spot. As the final seconds ticked away, Indiana's franchise player had the chance to deliver more late-game heroics on the road. He bumped Cason Wallace off him and drained a deep jumper. Just like that, the home crowd was stunned. Only 0.3 seconds remained. The Oklahoma City Thunder suffered a shocking 111-110 Game 1 loss to the Indiana Pacers. They're now at a disadvantage with an early 0-1 series deficit in the 2025 NBA Finals. Advertisement Talk about deja vu. But in the worst ways for the Thunder. To truly digest what happened, let's rewind to the start. You need to do that when you hold for the entire game, sans the final couple of seconds. To start, everything went the Thunder's way. They scored the first seven points. The OKC crowd provided them with a jolt of energy. It looked eerily similar to what they usually do to run up the scoreboard on their opponent. Then the Pacers fought through it. The Thunder held a 29-20 lead after the first quarter. They scored 28 points in the second frame to push their halftime advantage to 57-45. Not bad, but it felt like they left meat on the bone. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 19 points at the break, but the rest of his squad struggled to show up. Perhaps from a case of the jitters. The Thunder flirted with a near plus-20 shot-attempt advantage over the Pacers. That alone should've been enough to get them up by a larger amount. But Indiana hung around. That's what it's done all playoffs. After the break, it was much of the same. Advertisement Gilgeous-Alexander sliced through Indiana's defense, but the Pacers hit timely outside buckets to keep it within striking distance. Indiana scored 31 points in the third quarter as the Thunder's lead was trimmed to 85-76 to enter the fourth frame. Uneasiness settled into Paycom Center. Everybody's anxiety grew with each missed shot. Jalen Williams had a bit of a burst to start the fourth quarter. After TJ McConnell's bad inbound pass resulted in a Williams' breakaway dunk, the Thunder had a 94-79 lead with a little over nine minutes left. OK. Deep breath out. The Thunder finally had some space on the scoreboard. Alas, like The Terminator, the Pacers wouldn't give up. It didn't take long for them to cut it within a single-digit deficit. Big-time outside buckets by Myles Turner and Obi Toppin made things interesting. 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