Conor Daly is getting a second chance at racing in IndyCar in 2023
It was announced around 8:30 this morning via Meyer Shank Racing’s Twitter that their driver Simon Pagenaud, who had a brake failure during yesterday morning’s practice session has not been medically cleared to compete and MSR has decided to put former Ed Carpenter Racing driver Conor Daly in the No. 60 Honda as Pagenaud’s replacement.
.@simonpagenaud will be re-evaluated prior to the Honda Indy Toronto. pic.twitter.com/oir6LXwI38
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 2, 2023
A Quick Decision
According to MSR Team Owner Mike Shank,
“First and foremost, I have to speak to the safety of these cars, to walk away from an accident like that is incredible and we cannot thank everyone at IndyCar, the AMR safety team and the IndyCar medical team for everything they did to get Simon out and evaluated as quickly as possible.”
“This is obviously not a scenario that we had planned for, but everyone at MSR has pitched in to get our backup car ready for Sunday,” continued Shank. “It’s actually Helio’s Indy 500 car and the one he won the 500 with in 2021. We have to thank Conor for being here and stepping into this, he’s been super great through all of the chaos. Now we will get back on our feet and see what we can do in the race.”
Daly’s History with Mike Shank
Daly will climb into the No. 60 Honda with plenty of experience under his belt from previous seasons at Mid-Ohio. When the green flag drops today, this will be Daly’s eighth start at the course, with his best finish at Mid-Ohio coming during his Rookie season of 2016 when he finished sixth.
“Obviously I have to think about Simon, you hate to see someone wreck like that,” said Daly. “The most important thing is to get him as healthy as possible, as soon as possible. This is his car and his group of folks and I am here to do the best job that I can for this team. I’ve known Mike (Shank) for a long time and I’ve tested for his sports car team many years ago. I’ve always had a lot of respect for this organization. It’s an honor to be a part of this group and fill in – we will just do the best job that we can.”
