Conor Daly staying positive amid struggles of 'rebuilding year' at Foyt

Jim Ayello | IndyStar

INDIANAPOLIS – In a season overflowing with disappointment, Sunday's at Road America struck the crescendo.

“(One) of the most frustrating weekends of my career,” Conor Daly vented on Twitter. “All I can say about it. Difficult situation but we’ll pull through.”

For Daly, who finished outside the top 10 for the ninth time in 10 races, the statement perfectly sums up his sophomore season: a fist full of frustration with a glimmer of hope.

Whether it be a mishap of his own design, or — as has been the case far more frequently — his car’s, this Verizon IndyCar Series season has been a nightmare for the 25-year-old Daly. He sits 19th in the championship and dead last among series regulars in average finishing position (16.6).

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Heading into the Indianapolis 500, mechanical issues on Daly's No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet plagued him; he had finished just one race on the lead lap. Then, he crashed at the 500, lost power at the first dual at Detroit before having a late red flag rob him off a sure top-10 in the second.

“Starting at (the season opener in) St. Pete, we had a really competitive car, a top-five car, but we had electrical issues there, and that’s stuff that’s out our control as team,” Daly said. “Sadly, those kinds of bad things have happened to us a lot this year.”

Just when Daly thought he had finally gained some traction — surviving the melee at Texas to record his first top 10 of the season (seventh) — he finished 15th at Road America after driving a car that didn’t appear to have the pace to keep up with the series frontrunners.

To be fair, growing pains were expected this season. Daly knew he was joining a Foyt team that would be behind the curve. He knew a slow start might be unavoidable with two new drivers — himself and Carlos Munoz — a late switch to a new manufacturer (Honda to Chevrolet), new engineers and a new race shop in Speedway that would divide the team between Indiana and Texas.

“We’re still definitely behind a little, and it feels that way,” team president Larry Foyt told IndyStar on Wednesday. “It’s not only learning a new package, it’s learning new drivers as well. What are they like and what are looking for? Both of our engineers have been a little bit out of it for awhile, too. So they’re kind of getting adjusted as well. … But we knew this would be a rebuilding year.”

Unfortunately, the rebuild has slogged, moving at a pace unpalatable to both Foyt and Daly. In 20 combined starts, neither Daly nor Munoz has sniffed a podium. Each has come in seventh once this season.

“We’re definitely not where we want to be,” Foyt said. “It’s been a struggle, no doubt.”

Foyt, though, remains optimistic that the rebuild will pay dividends in the future. And while that might be true, Daly is feeling more of an urgency to produce sooner.

The problem with the sort of season Daly is having, he said, is that regardless of why the results have been bad, they’ve still been bad. And in an IndyCar world that only employs 20-some full-time drivers, you aren’t always guaranteed the benefit of context. Especially young drivers.

Take, for instance, the man who finished just one spot of Daly at Road America and is sitting at 15th in the championship, Ryan Hunter-Reay. Like Daly, Hunter-Reay has endured a season filled with mechanical problems and bad luck. But Hunter-Reay’s IndyCar resume includes a 500 victory and a series championship.

Daly's resume? He’s still trying to prove himself.

“It’s so difficult for me, because this is only my second season,” Daly said. “When (bad luck) happens to well-established guys, people know they’re very talented. For someone like me, it’s definitely difficult, because you never know what people are thinking out there. ... I'm definitely feeling the pressure."

Daly, however, said he tries to keep thoughts like those from creeping into his mind, something that's been made a bit easier by his team owner.

A.J. Foyt, though frustrated by the poor results of this year, frequently discusses next season with Daly. He tells the young driver that the team is working hard to grow more competitive with the new cars and universal body kits.

And that relieves some pressure for Daly, knowing that his boss still sees a future with the two of them working together. But his mind would be even more at ease if he could find a way to start producing better finishes.

Buoyed by an excellent test there, Daly said his best hope for a great result is probably at Gateway Motorsports Park toward the end of August. He also expects to run well on the Streets of Toronto, the event immediately following next weekend's race at Iowa.

Of course, he's not going to try to put too much pressure on himself at any one race. He knows that despite the struggles of the season, there have been reasons to stay positive and reasons to think there is light at the end of this very long and dark tunnel.

"We've seen shining lights every now and then," Daly said. "We've had good tests like Gateway. We've had glimmers of good things that we know we can feed off of. That's what we have to build off of."

Then Daly and the team can worry about next year, together.

"I would love to be with these guys for a really long time and see out this development we are working on."

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