Paddock Buzz: Conor Daly Comfortable in Traffic, Eager To Race

Fox Sports

20-05-2025

INDYCAR
Conor Daly enters his 12th Indianapolis 500 start with confidence and a sense of déjà vu.
Daly seeks his maiden NTT INDYCAR SERIES win in his first season driving the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet and believes this car gives him a legitimate shot.
'Gives me a little bit of a feeling that I had in 2021, which was the best car that I've ever had here,' Daly said.
Daly led a race-high 40 of 200 laps in 2021 but finished 13th for Ed Carpenter Racing. He first took the lead on Lap 50, but his race went downhill on Lap 119 when a loose wheel from Graham Rahal's car bounced hit the nose of Daly's car in Turn 2.
The damage hurt the aerodynamic performance of Daly's car, preventing him from charging back.
He showed consistent speed in practice that month, placing his car in the top five in Practice 2, Practice 3, Practice 4, Practice 8 and final practice on Miller Lite Carb Day.
Just like in 2021, Daly has displayed speed in practice sessions this year. He was fifth in Practice 2, third in Practice 3, eighth in Practice 4 and 10th in Practice 8 on Monday.
Daly rolls off Sunday from the middle of Row 4 (11th).
The Indiana native has four top-10 '500' finishes in the last six years, including three in a row. He's achieved that with three different teams, finishing 10th for Andretti Global in 2019, sixth and eighth, respectively, for ECR in 2022 and 2023, and 10th last year for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports.
Daly also has led as many laps (69) in the '500' as two-time reigning winner Josef Newgarden.
'I just haven't led the right laps,' Daly said.
For a young team like Juncos Hollinger, which made 19 INDYCAR SERIES starts between 2017-21 and didn't put a full-time car on the grid until 2022, Daly's qualifying performance and Race Day potential mark a major step forward.
'I get that feeling that this thing (car) sucks up really well in the tow and the draft, and it's just got the ability to race well,' he said.
Indianapolis 500 Rookies Honored During Luncheon
Tuesday's annual American Dairy Association Rookie Luncheon brought a unique blend of tradition and humor to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the 2025 Indianapolis 500 rookie class participated in a ritual in the shadows of the iconic Pagoda – milking a cow.
Robert Shwartzman (No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet), this year's NTT P1 Award winner, along with Louis Foster (No. 45 Desnuda Tequila Honda, starting 20th), and Nolan Siegel (No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, starting 24th), were the spotlighted rookies gearing up for their '500' debut.
The cow-milking tradition, introduced in 2016, continues to offer lighthearted moments amid the intensity of Race Week.
'It was uncomfortable,' Siegel admitted with a laugh about milking the cow. 'I have not milked a cow before ... I didn't expect to do this in front of the Pagoda, but here we are.'
Foster, who hails from England, added while milking the cow was one of the weirder things he's done, he's used to handling large animals thanks to time spent around horses back home.
After the laughs and photo ops, the rookies joined guests for lunch, officially marking their welcome into Indy 500 Race Week tradition.
Indianapolis 500 Milk Choices Unveiled
Indiana Dairy Association revealed the traditional milk preferences of all 33 drivers set to compete in Sunday's Indianapolis 500.
A whopping 28 drivers chose whole milk. Just five drivers opted for 2% milk: four-time '500' winner Helio Castroneves, two-time winner Takuma Sato, 2016 winner Alexander Rossi, Graham Rahal and Daly.
That's the same split as last year's race.
The milk-drinking tradition at the Indy 500 dates back to 1936, when Louis Meyer requested buttermilk after winning the race. It was meant to be refreshing – and it stuck.
Drivers now select their milk preference ahead of time so the Indiana Dairy Association can have the correct bottle ready in Victory Lane.
FOX Sports To Air '500' Live on 'MEGA-ZILLA' In Times Square
FOX Sports will air Sunday's 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge live on the monster 'MEGA-ZILLA' screen in New York's Times Square.
Coverage begins at 10 a.m. ET, with the green flag at 12:45 p.m. ET.
The 20,000-square-foot Ultra-HD screen dubbed 'MEGA-ZILLA' is located between 45th and 46th streets in Manhattan and consumes an entire city block. It is considered the largest and most impactful digital screen in the world, measuring 329 feet, 10 inches wide by 77 feet, 8 inches high.
RLL, Fifth Third Bank Provide Savings Plan to Indiana Family
Since 2017, the Fifth Third Babies program has delivered more than $730,000 in the 529 College Savings Plans to nearly 700 babies born on May 3 (5/3) through partnerships with 125 hospitals across seven states. The program rotates to new communities across Fifth Third's 11-state footprint each year.
This year, an Indiana family was among the recipients of the $1,053 contribution, and that family was honored Monday at IMS.
Emersyn McQueen, born May 3 at Columbus Regional Hospital, a little over an hour south of IMS, joined her cousin Rylee Balser as Fifth Third Babies. Rylee is a 2022 Fifth Third 529 College Savings Plan recipient.
Graham Rahal, whose primary sponsor is Fifth Third Bank for selected races during the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, and Mike Ash, regional president of Greater Indiana for the bank, invited the families of those cousins to visit the track Monday. The newest baby in the family, Emersyn, and her parents were gifted a care package. The package included a $1,053 gift card for a 529 College Savings Plan, as well as some goodies from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Fifth Third Bank joined RLL as an associate sponsor in 2016 and has grown the partnership in the last nine years.
Odds and Ends Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced Tuesday that Fleet Cost & Care has expanded its partnership to include a second race as primary sponsor for Rahal. He will carry the white and green colors on his No. 15 Honda for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday, June 1. Fleet Cost & Care was the primary sponsor of the No. 15 Honda driven by Rahal at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13. Several admitted many laps were turned on used Firestone Firehawk tires during practice Monday. The rubber was worn from qualifying simulation runs last week, making them unsuitable to use in the 200-lap race Sunday. But there was still some tire life remaining, so Monday's practice provided an ideal use case.
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