Popular IndyCar Driver Conor Daly Out At Ed Carpenter Racing

Popular among the fans, but struggling on the race track, Conor Daly is out at Ed Carpenter Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series effective immediately.

The announcement was made by the team at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time on June 7.

The No. 20 BITNILE.COM Chevrolet will continue as a full-time entry in the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season, which reconvenes with the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on June 18.

“This is the most difficult decision I have made as a team owner because I respect Conor and know what he means to IndyCar and its fans,” Carpenter said. “Our team has not been performing at the level we are capable of this year, and despite making technical changes and investments in the offseason, 2023 has been extremely challenging.

“I have put a great deal of consideration into the current state of our team and realize it is my obligation to our employees, partners, and supporters to do whatever is necessary to elevate our team’s competitiveness.

“We sincerely wish Conor continued success and will cheer him on wherever he goes next.”

Daly, who has legions of fans because of his friendly nature and the fact he is from Noblesville, Indiana, and the son of former Formula One and CART driver Derek Daly, said he was grateful for the opportunity with the team.

“Although we’ve mutually decided that it’s in our best interests to take different paths, I’d like to thank ECR for the past three and a half seasons,” Daly said. “I’m grateful to everyone who has supported me – past, present and into the future. I look forward to taking on the next opportunities that await, and I want to thank the fans for being with me on this ride.”

The status of the No. 21 BITNILE.COM Chevrolet is unaffected, as well as the ovals-only program of the No. 33 BITNILE.COM Chevrolet. Information regarding the driver of the No. 20 BITNILE.COM Chevrolet for the upcoming event at Road America will be released in due course, according to a team statement.

Although Daly has a big personality and plenty of fans, he hasn’t been able to back that up on the race track. Through 104 races over 10 years, Daly has just one podium finish – second at Belle Isle for Dale Coyne Racing in 2016 – and one career pole – Iowa Speedway in 2020.

That season, Daly ran the road and street courses for Ed Carpenter Racing, sharing the No. 20 Chevrolet with owner/driver Carpenter. He ran the oval races that season for team owner Trevor Carlin. Then rookie driver Rinus VeeKay drove the No. 21 Chevrolet.

Beginning in 2021, Daly took over the No. 20 ride full-time at ECR as Carpenter created a third, oval-only entry for himself.

It was during a weekend getaway in Las Vegas during the offseason entering 2022 that Daly had a chance meeting with Milton “Todd” Ault, III, the Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of BitNile Holdings, now known as Ault Alliance (AULT) on the NYSE.

That developed into a sponsorship and gave Daly high hopes of finally becoming an IndyCar contender.

“Yeah, Conor, the Vegas trip, that’s real,” Carpenter said back in February before IndyCar’s “Spring Training” at The Thermal Club. “There’s another player involved in that that has been instrumental in helping run the project and growing it.

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But really Todd, I think all major partners that work like this, at some level they share a passion for the sport. Todd’s wife is from Indiana. They had been attending the 500 as fans for a long time.

“He happened to be fans of all of us. Before we all met, he was actually in negotiations with another IndyCar team. It kind of fell apart. We all met. It was pretty interesting, the whole process.

“Last year I think Todd always envisioned something looking like what we will look like in 2023. I think last year was a learning experience for everyone. Now we’re launching into a bigger project with BitNile.com, which is very exciting. I can’t wait for everyone to see all the things they’re doing and what it will grow into as the year goes on.

“There is a lot of energy, a lot of passion. So long as everything is successful, hopefully it will be a long-lasting partnership.

“I think we’re in a good place. We live in a sport, an industry, that is volatile all the time, so it’s great. I look at it as a good fit. We’ve got a partner that is spread across all our cars and believes in it the way that they do. Hopefully it lasts for lots of years. If it doesn’t, we’ll still be thankful for what we have right now.”

In 2022, Daly showed plenty of promise through the first six races with a fifth-place finish in the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis and a sixth-place finish in the 106^th Indianapolis 500.

But the end of the season saw him finish 23^rd at Gateway, 25^th at Portland and 24^th at Laguna Seca.

It wasn’t much better in 2023 as Daly finished 20^th at Texas Motor Speedway, 23^rd at Long Beach, 25^th at Barber Motorsports Park and 19^th in the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

But he was solid in this year’s 107^th Indianapolis 500, finishing eighth as the highest-finished driver at Ed Carpenter Racing. VeeKay finished 10^th after starting second and Carpenter was 20^th in the Indy 500.

Daly started and finished 15^th this past weekend at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix and appeared to be frustrated over a variety of issues when talking to two reporters in the paddock on Saturday morning.

The 22-year-old VeeKay has shown promise and remains safe in the No. 21, with Carpenter hoping to sign the driver from The Netherlands to a contract extension.

“Rinus VeeKay, he’s on a multi-year agreement, but Conor is in the last year of a multi-year agreement,” Carpenter said on February 1 at IndyCar Media Day in Palm Springs, California. “We’ll see where it goes.

“There’s those conversations, an element to that that is team and driver. There’s obviously an element that the partner and sponsor is connected with. We’re fortunate we all have a great relationship; we all work really well together. We’ll just see what happens.

“So long as everything is successful, hopefully it will be a long-lasting partnership.”

In addition to his IndyCar career, Daly has competed in three NASCAR Cup Series races for The Money Team, including this year’s Daytona 500 and Circuit of The Americas (COTA) on March 26. He finished 29^th in the Daytona 500 and 36^th at COTA.