Conor Daly gets full-time IndyCar drive with Juncos Hollinger Racing

Just over 18 months since it seemed his dreams of full-time American open-wheel racing were over, Conor Daly’s IndyCar career has risen from the ashes.

Daly, the Indiana native who has driven for nearly a dozen IndyCar teams, will drive full-time for Juncos Hollinger Racing in 2025, the team announced Wednesday, completing a revamp of JHR’s two-car lineup heading into the has featured five drivers over the past two seasons and will add a sixth in 2025 with Daly’s new teammate Sting Ray Robb.

In Daly, team co-owners Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger gain a driver who has consistently posted top-10 finishes in the Indy 500 – four times with three different teams – and excels on ovals, an important addition to a program that has since achieved just two oval top-10 finishes upon his return to full-time competition in 2021.

Conor Daly news:Conor Daly is aiming for a full-time IndyCar ride with JHR while awaiting the vote on the Polkadot sponsorship deal

That level of performance shined this year as Daly came off the bench for JHR for the final five races, scoring two oval top-10 finishes – including the team’s first podium finish in the first race of the Milwaukee Mile doubleheader. Daly, who turned 33 on Sunday, also delivered JHR its first championship of any kind in 2010 in what is now USF Pro 2000.

“When Conor returned to us last year, it felt like we were seamlessly picking up where we left off in 2010,” Ricardo Juncos said in a press release. “I’m really looking forward to having him back in the car full-time from 2025.”

Daly added: “After the excitement and success we have shared in 2024, including Milwaukee, it feels like the perfect next step.” I am grateful for Ricardo and Brad’s trust in me as I start revitalizing my career. I look forward to striving for podiums and victories with this incredible group.”

From last season:Conor Daly is back on an IndyCar podium in the star run at the Milwaukee Mile

Daly is viewed as a champion whose performance will ultimately determine the trajectory of JHR’s near-term future.

This project, which Juncos and Hollinger began in late summer 2021, already appears to be in its fourth unique phase in a relatively short space of time: a one-car team with Callum Ilott that occasionally showed competitive speed; two cars during a difficult season that saw more storylines off the track than on it; and one that replaced young frontrunner Ilott with notorious ex-F1 driver Romain Grosjean in the hope that his global popularity and the Argentine fanfare of Agustin Canapino would generate sponsorship.

As a team that has rarely had sponsorship stickers in 2024, there’s a reason JHR has a new roster: Robb provides what is believed to be the largest sponsor on the free agent market and Daly brings the potential of a $3 million check from Polkadot, his Indy 500 and NASCAR sponsor beginning in the 2024 season, along with other smaller contracts he had already amassed as he once again navigated the murky waters of free agency navigated.

More:Inside Conor Daly’s sponsorship package hopes with Polkadot

In August, Daly proposed a $7.5 million sponsorship package to the Polkadot community that would have allowed him to completely change his career path and race full-time in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series while running the 500m only competed once with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing. With that program vehemently rejected and Grosjean simultaneously working in the background to cobble together new partners to keep his seat, there were moments when it was unclear whether Daly’s IndyCar career would continue.

Just a few months later, he has found his fourth full-time home – previously driving for Dale Coyne Racing (2016), AJ Foyt Racing (2017) and Ed Carpenter Racing (2022-23). Should he manage to hold on to that spot for two full seasons – ECR cut Daly midway through his second full-time season after inconsistent results and tensions within the team – or longer, this seems like an opportunity that will lay the foundation for a long-term one Partnership.

“Our main priority this year is to build on the success we have seen in the team’s short three-year campaign,” JHR team principal Dave O’Neill said in a press release. “With Conor joining the team and Sting Ray already confirmed, we are well placed to make this happen. This is just the beginning of a long-term process to build a stronger and more competitive foundation for the future.”

However, Daly should take over 4th all-time in series starts without a win. He is currently in 6th place with 115. His career-best points finish, 17th, achieved in 2022 in a season with ECR that included a 5th place finish on the IMS road course and a run to 6th place in the 500cc race, matches Grosjean’s, the still sidelined ex-ECR driver and one place behind Ilott’s performance in 2023, which saw him unceremoniously go deep into the off-season. Only time will tell if Daly can deliver the on-track performance, off-track relationships and resources necessary to break free from his “IndyCar nomad” status.

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Conor Daly gets full-time IndyCar drive with Juncos Hollinger Racing

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