Conor Daly has been named to drive the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda for the remainder of the weekend in place of Rocky Moran Jr., who sustained a broken left thumb in Friday practice.
Daly, 23, has one previous Verizon IndyCar Series start, finishing 22nd in the 2013 Indianapolis 500. The son of retired Formula One and Indy car driver Derek Daly was the 2011 Indy Lights race winner at Long Beach and has spent most of the past three years in GP2 and GP3, the F1 feeder series.
Daly has been driving the Indy Racing Experience two-seater at Long Beach this weekend until getting the call from Coyne this morning.
“It’s a shame to see Rocky break his (thumb) like he did, but this is why I bring my stuff to the track every week and this is why I’m here and this is why I’m ready,” Daly said. “I can’t thank Dale enough for the call, to be able to get out here and do some laps and get in the game. We’ll see what happens, but I’m excited for the opportunity.”
Daly, who tested an Indy car for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the offseason, has realistic expectations stepping in this deep into the weekend.
“We’re not here to set the world on fire,” said Daly, whose team borrowed a seat from Marco Andretti. “We’re here to learn. At least I’ve been on the track this weekend. I should be ready to go and excited for it. I’ve always wanted to race (an Indy car) on a road course, and especially here at Long Beach.
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