Conor Daly thinks IndyCar should race in Mexico “immediately”

Conor Daly has started 115 IndyCar races with ten different teams over the last 12 years, plus put in seat time across NASCAR, GP3, and a stint as an F1 test driver. He secured his full-time 2025 IndyCar run in the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger IndyCar after after earning the team’s first-ever podium at Milwaukee last year. The 33-year-old Indiana native has earned the respect of the paddock — and isn’t afraid to say what’s on his mind. 

And when Motorsport caught up with Daly recently, he had a lot to say. He’s laser-focused on competing for podiums — and maybe even a big win — this season. But Daly also has his eyes on the state of the sport itself.

Below, Daly gets into all of it: IndyCar’s expansion outside U.S. borders, the series’ chances at parity without a new car, his chances at a NASCAR return, and whether Juncos can win the Indy 500. His line — “I want to win that race more than anything else in the world” — should give you a hint.

You’re starting a new opportunity as a full-time driver, but having done five races with Juncos already, how important will that experience be in order to hit the ground running in 2025?

Preparation is so important in this sport, and we can go through weeks of looking at everything that we want to accomplish and how we make the cars even better. It eliminates some of the questions that you would have in your mind before going into a new environment, because I was already there. I already know the system a little bit.

You are the most experienced driver this team has ever had when it comes to IndyCar. Do you feel like the team leader? If so, how do you cope with that responsibility?

Having the most experience is helpful. There has to be someone to lead us in a certain direction. I’ve been in teams before where my teammate has been the more experienced driver. I think it’s just about trust — they have to trust what I’m saying, and I have to trust that they’re going to be able to deliver what I want out of the car.

The same thing for Sting Ray, obviously, as well. I’m sure he’ll want something a little bit different than me, but hopefully our overall efforts make the cars just faster every weekend. It’s the most competitive time in IndyCar right now. Everything has to be perfect every day if you want to achieve the best possible results. 

You raced for many teams in IndyCar, so you know about facilities and resources. Where does Juncos Racing rank in that list?

We have a great workshop, and we have a great group of people. A lot of young folks, which is good. There’s still a long way to go. There are teams that still have triple the budget that we have, more cars and more data for years.

One thing that we definitely are limited on is data and a multitude of different years of setup work. I think we’re punching above our weight. We’re doing quite well for a smaller, more underdog-type operation, but there are a lot of smart people on this team. 

Daly taking third in Milwaukee in 2024

Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images

Of course, winning is the ultimate goal — but have you set any specific targets that you want to achieve with Juncos? Last year, the podium in Milwaukee was huge for the team. But during the whole season, is there a specific goal to achieve?

I want to win the Indy 500. I don’t think there’s any reason why we shouldn’t do that. Their cars were fast last year, and then I got in at the end of the season, in October, to do a test day with those guys. I think they haven’t actually had drivers with a lot of oval experience in their cars before. So there was a lot that I immediately was able to pick up on that I didn’t like, and stuff that I think could be good. Because I have driven a lot of oval races, and I know what I want at the Indy 500, I think the development work that the team is doing in the wind tunnel and over the offseason is going to be super helpful.

We want to win that race more than anything else in the world. I want to win that race more than anything else in the world.

But for me, my goal is to prove a lot of people wrong on the road and street courses. That’s where I got my first podium in IndyCar, and I think people forgot that. I really want to do well there and start off strong in the season. The Indy Road Course is a place that I really want to win — that I feel like I’ve been very close to before, but I’ve had a lot of stuff happen to me there.

And then this year, I want to have my best points year of all time. We want to be consistent every weekend. We don’t want to have any DNFs. We don’t want to have any silly mistakes. Just want to score points all the time, keep ourselves up front, and just be consistent. It’s going to be hard to fight the top teams, for sure, but I think we have an opportunity to do it if we execute on all different sides of the team.

How much of a challenge will it be to beat the big teams like Penske, Ganassi, Andretti, and McLaren? It’s a long shot. How can you accomplish that?

Well, it’s very hard. Last year I was with the Dreyer & Reinbold team, and they only do one race a year, right? So, showing up, to be able to go out and lead the race and run at the front with those guys, even though we had a shock failure kind of early on in the race.

Everything just has to be right. You do all the work during May: every single practice session, every change that you make by the time it gets to Carb Day and race weekend, it’s your job with your engineer to just put all the right puzzle pieces together. I have enough confidence there to get to the front no matter where I start. We’ve done it before. It’s a long day. You have to have a little bit of luck on your side, for sure. But there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to compete if we do all those things. It is very difficult, but still — I have more confidence than anywhere else.

“I think if you want to see a true reshuffle, we need a new car.”

In the last three years, just one team outside the top four has been able to win a race, which was Lundgard with Rahal in Toronto ’23. Why do you think that — in a series which is supposed to be level in many areas — it is so difficult for smaller teams to step up?

Well, there still are open areas of development, right? You have the damper programs, which teams can spend $100 million a year if they want it on, because it’s an open area of development, right? In Formula 1, everything’s open for development. But with us, there still is a benefit to having a large group of engineers [and] a large amount of technical development budget. And there’s a reason why the teams that spend the most money go the fastest. I mean, that’s just what it is.

So it is a little bit harder for the smaller teams. And we’ve obviously had the same car for so long. In 2016 and the early years of this car, you would see some smaller teams maybe get a win here and there — Dale Coyne Racing, other operations. But the business has become so refined that at the end of the day, the bigger teams are finding smaller amounts, but they’re finding more of it than the teams that might not have as much budget.

I think if you want to see a true reshuffle, we need a new car, hopefully in the next couple of years.

Even though you think you’ve found everything, there’s always more you can find in these cars, and the dampers and the way the tires work — you know, the cars are different now with the hybrid. So, how do you figure out the best possible setup for that situation? It’s kind of a tale as old as time… the people who have the most resources, and the biggest operations, and the smartest people who stay together, and the best drivers, usually do pretty well.”

But do you think that maybe having some kind of cost cap could help to level things between teams? Something like what F1 did?

I don’t think so. Our budgets are still way less than a Formula 1 budget.

There’s no way to make motor racing just fair for everyone. You know what I mean? Because you’re always trying to be the best. With how competitive all of our teams are, I think we’re still really lucky. Even in NASCAR, the discrepancy between the top teams and the bottom teams is a lot, and it’s the same in Formula 1. And even though we still have some of that in IndyCar, it’s much tighter. I don’t think you’ll ever be able to really make it just even for everyone, because then you’re not at the peak of engineering, you’re not relying on really smart people and taking chances technically.

I don’t think a budget cap or anything is necessary. We’re already pretty limited because we have so little testing. They’re definitely trying to keep the money under control. We have, like, one test day before the season starts.

You knew Ricardo Juncos from your title run in 2010. How much has he evolved as a team owner? How’s it been working with him now?

Well, honestly, I remember Ricardo from even the go-karting days, before he even started a car racing team, and it’s been impressive. He always said that he wanted to get to the top level of motorsport as a team owner. I thought that after we won our championship, he was the team to be with, for sure. And I always just followed along.

We’re very close because of that time we spent together in 2010. That was a year where we all really worked hard. We slept in the trailer together because we weren’t doing big things with big money — we were just trying to win races. We were just trying to show up every weekend, and we did it. So it’s impressive to see what he’s done. And it’s kind of crazy, for sure, to think that here I am driving for his IndyCar team. It’s funny how life works.

IndyCar became quite popular in Argentina with Agustin Canapino. Then people got disappointed when he left. But Juncos is still an Argentinian team at its roots. Do you feel support from Argentinian fans? 

Honestly, there’s a lot of passion from the Argentinian fan base, no matter what it is — whether it’s Formula 1, IndyCar, soccer, any sport, right? You can definitely see it. And I think I’ve been on both ends, of support and then a lot of not support, which has been tough. Racing is a ruthless business. I got to know Augustín. Very nice guy. Some people still are looking for him to come back. I think he also probably wants to be in a place where he wants to be, too. Being successful in Argentina, I think, is awesome for him. I still follow him on the internet, so I see everything that he’s doing.

The support from Argentina has been great. And, you know, you can like me or not. I don’t really mind, because that’s what I love about sport. You can have your people that you support.

But I know Ricardo [Juncos] very well, and I know that he is a great representation for Argentina. And I would love to see us racing in Argentina! IndyCar needs to be down there —I think that would be super cool. It’s a very passionate fan base. 

You kind of went into my next question, which was about the calendar. There were some talks with Argentina in the past. Now, Mexico seems to be gaining some momentum towards 2026 with Pato O’Ward, of course. What do you think about IndyCar expanding outside the U.S.?

Yeah, I think that for sure we would be able to race in Mexico. Obviously, Pato has such a passionate fan base. But from what I saw, even with Ricardo and Augustín doing the laps that they did in Argentina, the fans that were there. If that many people were there for a demonstration, why are we not racing there? Like, why are we not down there immediately?

Obviously, it takes a lot more than I know of — organizing an event and selling tickets, making sure no one loses a bunch of money and it’s all supported correctly. But I don’t necessarily think the move for us is to go to Europe. I think the North, South America, Central America — like, that region of the world — is probably a better area for us to focus on. And, you know, in America this year with Fox, it will be helpful, I hope.

But I don’t know when we will get to do that. The sport has to grow overall. If the sport grows and people are willing to pay for IndyCar to be there and it’s a money-making opportunity for everyone, then I think it’ll work. Hopefully we can do it. I think it would be a great idea.

Besides your job as a full-time IndyCar driver, you also run your own podcast, Speed Street. What motivates you to do it? Could it lead you to do some broadcasting work when you stop racing?

I definitely want to be in TV broadcasting, if I can do it. I love talking about racing, and I love to have a chance to tell people about it. I do the podcast purely because it’s an opportunity to expand my own brand. It’s an opportunity to talk to more people.

I think if you’re learning something from all the people that you interview, that can only help your own mind — and maybe as a race car driver, help you improve from hearing other drivers and seeing what’s going on in their minds.

We all have to work together to grow the sport that we love. And IndyCar right now needs to grow. And it takes all of us to get it there. I’m going to keep trying to give people something that they might want to listen to, and hopefully tell a friend, like, “Hey, IndyCar is cool — you got to watch it.” And that’s what we need, more of that.

Are you eager to try NASCAR again?

I mean, I would love to give a full season of the NASCAR Xfinity Series a shot — but it has to be with the right team. I’ve been in the worst possible situations in NASCAR, and it’s definitely not fun to be in those situations. But it seemed like the Sam Hunt Racing team that I was with last year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, we got in and competed and qualified well, raced at the front. And when you have a chance to run with a competitive team, that’s really cool.

But I’m focused on being an IndyCar driver first. And again, the only way I could go NASCAR racing is if I have a ton of financial backing behind me. I don’t have that, really. If, for some reason, IndyCar doesn’t work out after a couple years, or after however long, I would love to give the NASCAR stuff a shot, for a season at least.