Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
For the first time since 1965, Ferrari is the overall winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as the #51 Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi won overall. The #34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca-Gibson of Fabio Scherer, Albert Costa and Jakub Śmiechowski won in LMP2. The #33 Corvette of Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Nicolás Varrone won in GTE-Am. At least, those were all the winners on the road. Let's wait for post-race scrutineering. Ferrari wasn't the only victorious Italian marquee this weekend. The Márquez brothers had themselves a day in Mugello. However, a driver change is on my mind.
Conor Daly, Loyalty and Business
Midseason driver changes are not unfamiliar in IndyCar, but when they occur they draw everyone's attention. Last week, days after the Detroit Grand Prix, Ed Carpenter Racing released a statement saying it had parted ways with Conor Daly. The next day, ECR confirmed Ryan Hunter-Reay would take over the #20 Chevrolet for the remainder of the season.
Daly had driven for ECR since the start of the 2020 season, spending the first two seasons as the road/street course driver in the #20 Chevrolet while running oval events for Carlin. In 2022, Daly became full-time as ECR expanded to an oval-only entry for owner-driver Ed Carpenter.
This was by far Daly's longest tenure with one team in his IndyCar career. Unfortunately, the results over his 46 starts were woeful at best. With ECR, Daly had one top five finish and three top ten finishes. He had no top ten finishes over the entire 2021 season. His championship finishes over the previous three seasons were 17th, 18th and 17th, and he exits this ride ranked 20th in the championship this season. His average finish with the team was 16.782.
ECR has struggled in its own right, but Daly has been clinically outperformed for the last four seasons compared to Rinus VeeKay. When VeeKay entered the series, Daly had 50 starts to his name and looked prime to be a competitive driver. VeeKay was a rookie entering a pandemic-altered season with an extensive gap between seat time when he first strapped in for his debut at Texas.
Daly had been a successful "super sub" in 2019, competing as a one-off for Andretti Autosport, filling in for Carlin at oval races and running with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports when Marcus Ericsson had to fulfill Alfa Romeo responsibilities in Formula One. Sadly, this dream opportunity never clicked for Daly.
This change caught many around IndyCar circles off guard, but perhaps it shouldn't have. There were many reasons given as to why the move was questionable: ECR's overall form, sponsorship, Daly's personality. You can give all the reasons in the world. It boils down to IndyCar being a sport and a business. Results matter.
There was no sign of improvement from Daly. This year was off to a bad enough start. Daly had not qualified better than 20th through the first five races. He had finished outside the top fifteen in four of those events. The last two races were better, but eighth in the Indianapolis 500 wasn't enough to salvage his season.
Many thought the BitNile sponsorship, which Daly was instrumental in bringing to the team, would be enough of a safety blanket, but let's remember, these teams aren't stupid. The driver might bring the sponsor to the party, but that doesn't mean the driver is leaving with it at the end of the night. Any smart team is going to maintain the leverage when signing sponsors, and a team is going to try and persuade a sponsors to its side. Failure isn't always on the team, and if a team has a sponsor's ear, a driver change could be sold as a way to turn fortunes for the better.
Companies burn millions of dollars on motorsports sponsorships. Every company wants to be at the front. It wants to be competing. It wants to be winning races. That is what matters. BitNile might like Conor Daly, but Conor Daly wasn't providing BitNile with what BitNile needed. Nobody wants to be mired in 18th each race. It is now Ryan Hunter-Reay's turn to see if he can make a company happy.
It is harsh, but that is sports. Motorsports is different in a regard a sponsor has that much power, but it is no different than if a player isn't performing and he is friends with the coach or general manager, but the front office decides to trade him in hopes of improving the team. The best way to ensure safety is to produce.
There are 27 full-time IndyCar rides. There are significantly more than 27 interested drivers. With that kind of pressure, consistently poor form will put any driver on the hot seat. Daly wasn't owed a seat in IndyCar. Hunter-Reay is a past champion, a past Indianapolis 500 winner and ranked 25th all-time in victories, and despite that résumé Hunter-Reay didn't have a ride last year. He didn't have a ride at the start of this year. He got a one-off with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing at Indianapolis this year and that was it.
If Hunter-Reay was on the outside and not in IndyCar, why should anyone believe Daly deserved his spot and why should anyone believe Daly was wronged for being removed? Do you think Roger Penske or Chip Ganassi or Zak Brown would tolerate such results? Hell no!
There should be pressure. A driver shouldn't feel comfortable being 20th in the championship. This is how the series gets better. One driver doesn't perform, another gets a chance. The floor is always rising. That is how sports work. It is cutthroat, and that is the risk of becoming too attached to anyone competing. Feelings will be hurt.
This opportunity aside, Daly has gone through one of the tougher journeys to 104 IndyCar starts. It was jumping into vacant seats for injured drivers before Dale Coyne Racing had a full-time opening, and Daly did tremendous with that chance. It might have been the worst thing to ever happen to him, because it led to a paying seat at A.J. Foyt Racing when Foyt had ABC Supply Co. funding two cars. However, the 2017 season was the year Foyt switched to Chevrolet in what was a lame-duck season for the manufacturer-specific aero kits. Daly matched his Coyne results at Foyt despite the team experiencing a learning curve, but Foyt punted on him once Tony Kanaan was available for 2018.
From Foyt, it was back to piecing together rides when opportunities opened. Daly again had good results over two seasons as a part-timer and substitute. He rightfully earned his chance with ECR. It just didn't work out. That might be the most painful thing to accept. This was Daly's break. Not every break goes in your favor.
Where does Daly go from here? Four years ago, it was worth a flier on Daly. He was at 50 starts, but never had stability over those 50 starts. After nearly three-and-a-half seasons with an organization and never really sniffing the podium, I have a feeling the fish are not going to be biting, at least not immediately. Daly can be a serviceable substitute, and he has the ability to raise funding to run Indianapolis each May, but any future full-time shot must come from his own fundraising efforts. Any future full-time endeavor might be outside of IndyCar.
Daly is a good guy. He is honest and isn't afraid to be different. He is open in his Speed Street podcast when it comes to what happens on track and he does an excellent job explaining things. Many are upset that such a vocal supporter of IndyCar has lost his ride, but ambassadorship only gets you so far.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Le Mans, but did you know...
Francesco Bagnaia won the Italian Grand Prix from Mugello as well as the sprint race. Pedro Acosta won the Moto2 race, his third victory of the season. Daniel Holgado won the Moto3 race, his second consecutive victory and his third victory of the season. Andrea Mantovani and Eric Granado split the MotoE races.
Martin Truex, Jr. won the NASCAR Cup race from Sonoma, his second victory of the season. Aric Almirola won the Grand National Series race.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar is at Road America.
Formula One will be in Montreal.
MotoGP heads north to the Sachsenring.
Supercars will be in Darwin.
Super Formula is at Sportsland SUGO.
GT World Challenge America makes it to Virginia International Raceway.
