Daly charting next course after JHR announcement

Conor Daly knew Rinus VeeKay would be confirmed as the new driver of the Juncos Hollinger Racing car he drove for the team since late in the 2024 season.

With VeeKay positioned as JHR’s lead driver, it leaves the unfortunately well-traveled Hoosier to do as he’s done so many times in his career and see what he can salvage for opportunities among the few remaining teams with openings to offer. Daly also hopes to stay involved with the team owned by Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger in some capacity, but it’s too early to say whether it would be possible.

Another offseason, another winter filled with uncertainty for the 33-year-old.

“I am happy for Rinus,” Daly told RACER. “I was hoping to continue to work with Juncos Hollinger, and I still am. I don't entirely know how, but I think we could be a strong – a very strong – team together. They know that I’d like to stay and keep building together. I for sure have a partnership with Arco am/pm that is supposed to continue into next year and I would like to, obviously, see that continue.

“It’s not a full budget, but it’s meaningful, which is really good. I have no ill words towards what's going on at JHR. I’m proud of what we did together and want to keep talking about where things could lead.”

If it isn’t some sort of undetermined role with JHR, Daly’s best shot to stay on the grid is with Dale Coyne Racing. He’s driven for that team on four occasions between 2014-24, including a full-season deal in 2016 where he earned a career best finish of second place at the Detroit Grand Prix.

After Coyne, Indy-only seats are where Daly’s next-best chances exist, with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing –where he drove to 10th at the Indy 500 in 2024 – as another former home to pursue for a return.

“We've also obviously talked to anyone else with an open seat,” Daly added. “I had a very long conversation with Dale Coyne today, and I always feel like Dale would love to have me back there and I’d love to be back with him. I obviously know a lot of people involved in that team, including (primary sponsor) Todd Ault.

“Worst-case scenario is obviously doing the Indy 500 and I think I have plenty of opportunities to do that. We've talked a lot with Dreyer & Reinhold, of course, because those guys have been awesome and it would be an honor to run with them again. But other than that, there really isn't any open seats that I know of.

“We don't have enough funding to fully sign anything on the dotted line for a full season’s budget, but I would feel like it would be crazy to not at least have a good conversation about what we have in our partners to do more than one IndyCar race.”