Conor Daly teams up with Andretti Autosport for Indy 500

INDIANAPOLIS -- Conor Daly is returning to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the fan-favorite driver is doing it in one of the most coveted seats in all of motor sports. Daly and five-time Indy 500 champions Andretti Autosport announced Wednesday that they are teaming up for May’s 103rd running of the 500, with Daly poised to drive the team’s fifth car -- the No. 25 U.S. Air Force Honda.

For Daly, whose long-term goal remains to rejoin the NTT IndyCar Series full time, there are few better opportunity to prove his abilities as a driver than to partner with a team that has enjoyed a mountain of success at Indianapolis Motor Speedway over the past decade.

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Not only has Andretti conquered three of the past five 500s, but its entire fleet of cars almost always prove to be contenders come race day -- including their one-off entries. Whether it’s been Carlos Munoz, Townsend Bell or Fernando Alonso driving that fifth car, Andretti’s May one-offs have historically been in the hunt. Daly now hopes to add his name to that prestigious list.

“For me there was no question if you were to figure out what could be best possible chance you’d have at Indy, it’s with Andretti,” Daly told IndyStar. “I couldn’t be happier with this situation. Obviously, yes, I want to be full time, that’s the goal, but you have to look at what the next best opportunity and that’s with Andretti at Indy.”

Daly will be attempting to making his sixth start at the 500. His best starting position was 22nd (2015), while he notched his top finish (21st) last year as a one-off entry with Thom Burns/Dale Coyne Racing.

Daly knows that if he’s going to return to IndyCar as a full-time driver, he must capitalize on the immense opportunity in front of him. While he’s driven some quality cars at the 500, there is little doubt that teaming up with Andretti will be the best chance he’s had at registering a top-10 or better finish.

While that adds a bit of pressure, it’s nothing the Noblesville native hasn’t faced before. Daly, 27, has been fighting to keep his racing dreams alive for years.

Just last year, Daly returned home from the "Amazing Race" only to find that he had lost his job at AJ Foyt Racing. He didn't have time to sulk. He scrambled to cobble together a 500-only program that was only finalized in April -- a deal that wound up costing him money. In fact, Daly told IndyStar he's "still in the red trying to pay back what we had to do to last year to make things happen."

He then spent the rest of the IndyCar season following the series -- on his own dime -- from track to track hoping to get the call if/when someone needed a replacement driver. When Harding Racing finally came calling, Daly was ready, filling in for Gabby Chaves at Toronto, Mid-Ohio at Pocono.

While he had hoped that his stellar performances in 2018 would help land him a full-time ride in 2019, he quickly discovered that wasn't going to happen and turned his attention to the next best thing: a 500-only ride with Andretti Autosport.

During a teleconference Wednesday, team owner Michael Andretti didn't shut the door on bringing Daly back for more races beyond the 500. But if that's going to happen, Daly is going to need to turn in an exceptional Memorial Day weekend.

“The pressure is obviously high,” Daly admitted. “It’s crazy to think to you work 365 days a year to show up and hope someone doesn’t crash in front of you or there’s no random failures. Every day, I’ve just been thinking about how to take advantage of this one shot. ”

Working in Daly’s favor is that he’ll feel right at home inside the Andretti shop. Some of his closest friends, including former roommate and “Amazing Race” teammate Alexander Rossi, are on the team. Additionally, he already knows many of the crew members and has grown close to the Andretti family over the years. In fact, when the deal was being finalized, team owner Michael Andretti sent him a text saying it was great to have Daly as part of the family.

“I’m going to be very comfortable there,” said Daly, who plans to travel with the Andretti team to all of this season's IndyCar races. “And, I mean, Marco invested some of his own money trying to get me a test with Schmidt back in the day. Obviously everyone knows how close I am with Alex. My dad raced with Mario and is still good friends with him. Honestly, it’s such a cool realization that I’ll be driving with Andretti Autosport. Now I’m finally part of the team.”

Along with sponsoring Daly at the 500, the Air Force will become a full-season associate partner of Andretti Autosport with branding across the four full-season entries of Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and Zach Veach.

"We started working on this a while ago, and I'm just so excited we've been able to get it together and end up (teaming up) with the U.S. Air Force," Michael Andretii said. "I think we have something unique having five American drivers on the same team at the Indianapolis 500 at it's great to have the U.S. Air Force be a part of it."

Daly, too, is proud that he was able to not only team up with the Air Force for a second straight year, but also build a bridge to Andretti. He said that is a reflection of how well the two worked together at Indianapolis last year.

"That means a lot to me," Daly said. "It means I did my job, and they were happy with their return on investment.

"I couldn’t be happier they wanted to move forward, and I think it goes to show that investments in Indy 500 and IndyCar and in, I guess me, can work."

Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Facebook: @jimayello.