NTT INDYCAR SERIES- News Conference – August 15, 2024
Ricardo Juncos- Conor Daly-Press Conference
THE MODERATOR: The Olympic break is over. It’s on to
a fast and furious finish for the 2024 NTT INDYCAR
SERIES championship beginning this weekend.
Announced earlier today by Juncos Hollinger Racing, the
return of Conor Daly, who will drive the No. 78 Chevrolet
for the rest of the season.
Conor, good to see you.
CONOR DALY: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: Also joining us the co-owner of
Juncos Hollinger Racing, Ricardo Juncos.
What does Conor bring to the team that makes this such a
good fit?
RICARDO JUNCOS: I think he’s kind of back in the team,
right? It is a welcome back. I remember Conor maybe in
2003 go-kart time, then in Indy pro 2010, one of our best
championships ever. I think together we have a lot of good
things. Now he’s kind of coming back obviously many
years later.
I think Conor obviously has a lot of experience in
INDYCAR. I remember when he was fighting against
Rinus VeeKay, two Juncos cars in the Indy 500. I think he
has a lot of experience, for sure is a big plus.
He also worked before with some of my technical guys and
engineers in the past when he ran for Carlin. I think the
combination can be quite a good thing to see.
THE MODERATOR: Conor, you never know what’s going
to happen during the course of the season. How much are
you looking forward to getting back on the track now?
CONOR DALY: I mean, honestly, this is a huge deal for
me because I appreciate the fact that Ricardo committed
to, if we really want to score the points that we want to
score, do as good as we can do, to get some races in a
row is really helpful. To be able to work with the team, to
be able to test a couple weeks ago at St. Louis was really
helpful.
Obviously I’m still extremely new to the whole hybrid side
of it. At Portland, that will definitely be more in play for
sure, so that will be a challenge.
I think this is going to be a great situation purely because,
as Ricardo mentioned, the familiar faces that are there.
Even Alan Mc Donald who was there my very first
INDYCAR street race at Schmidt Peterson back in the day
which was a lot of fun at Detroit.
A lot of great people, a lot of people from the Carlin days
when we qualified on pole together. Everything about it is
kind of primed for hopefully a great few weeks to cap it off
for them in a really positive way.
THE MODERATOR: Generally speaking, you’ve had some
good drives at World Wide Technology Raceway. This is a
nice jumping off point for this journey.
CONOR DALY: Yeah, I love this track. After the test a
couple weeks ago, I see no reason why we shouldn’t be
confident.
My teammate, Grosjean as well, he was also at the test. I
think we go into it for sure with some high expectations.
Yeah, it’s a bit of a different race outlook for sure with how
different the cars are this year and tires. For some reason
I feel like Gateway, World Wide Technology Raceway,
excuse me, puts on a great event for us as usual.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions.
Q. Conor, this will be your sixth different INDYCAR
team over the last 14 months. You’ve done some
racing in ARCA, NASCAR Trucks, Xfinity, GT World
Challenge. What has this process been like for you,
and do you feel in some way it helps you become a
more adaptable driver for whatever comes your way
the rest of your career?
CONOR DALY: Well, it’s definitely been an interesting
year. From the months of last September till the beginning
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of May, I did more NBA All-Star Games than I did
INDYCAR races. I thought that was kind of a wild thing.
Now I get to do six weeks in a row in racing in essentially
three different series all the way to the end of September
with our last Truck race.
This is what I do, though. I try to work hard just providing
myself opportunities. I want to be involved in a competitive
situation. This happened to come up. Obviously I want to
be as competitive as possible for Ricardo, for this team.
There’s points to score that need to be scored. I want to
be that guy. I think with this group for sure it’s highly
possible.
It’s been chaotic this year. There’s been not a ton of races,
but really good moments from the 500 to Xfinity race at
Indy. There’s been a lot of times where I’ve actually had a
big smile on my face this year, which is nice.
This kind of I think restores that same smile because it’s a
great chance to just go racing in a field that I love to be a
part of, but also love to be competitive in. Yeah, it will be a
lot of work for sure. That’s what racing is all about, putting
in the work.
Yeah, I’m excited to do it.
Q. Ricardo, Conor comes with losing Agustin
Canapino. Could you give us a little bit more
perspective on the timing for this change. Is it leader
circle related? Is it wanting to get a feel for Conor?
RICARDO JUNCOS: I think is a little bit of everything. Is
not just one thing alone. So we analyze all the situation
with the group, Agustin included. We made the best
decision for everyone.
It’s not just one thing. That was my guy, and we choose
him out of open-wheel, was a big challenge, crazy move in
a way. I think when you see what he did last year, was
really, really good. Surprised a lot of people.
On in side, knowing the situation in our country, in
Argentina, where he came from, is tough. We took the risk
again based on his performance for this year.
I think he did excellent job considering the situation, not
just on the sporting side, meaning that he never race in an
open-wheel, now here he is in INDYCAR. But also coming
from a totally different country, culture, language,
everything else that he need to adapt. I think he did an
outstanding job.
Obviously the results on this year were not the results we
were hoping for. But I’m always going to be thankful for
him opportunity and the big chances that he took.
We did it together. We did things that in the history of
motor racing in Argentina never happened. Like, two times
Indy 500. Not something that happen often. Been in
Argentina more than 87 years. That didn’t happen in a
country that has passion about motor racing. For our
country was huge.
Looking forward for the future, as well, I think this is about
life and this is about things move forward. Learn from
things, and that’s why I keep saying we try something, I
always going to be happy about it. There is nothing worse
than not try things in life.
Like I said, for me it was an honor to have him. It is one of
the best drivers in the history. Today he’s a better driver,
for sure. I think it’s almost two years in INDYCAR teach
him a lot of things. Now he’s going back in Argentina,
continue there. Obviously all the luck for Agustin going
forward, as well.
Q. There’s been a lot of speculation over the last
couple weeks, months, about the future of this team,
talks about DeFrancesco camp, buying out your
ownership, buying out Brad’s ownership, becoming an
additional owner in this team. Can you give us a sense
of where this team is at right now, the health, the
future of this program?
RICARDO JUNCOS: Well, I hear the rumor. It is a rumor.
I think in INDYCAR is in a good space, to be honest,
generally speaking. A lot of good things are happening,
and will happen for the next year, two or three. You see a
lot of intentions of new teams coming in. Used to be more
than that. I think it was about four to five teams willing to
join INDYCAR, as far as I know, from rumors.
I only can say that in our side, all still the same. As of now,
I’m not with Brad Hollinger doing anything. Of course, we
have different options and different people that
approaching us.
You mentioned DeFrancesco is one of those. We have an
(indiscernible) with all of them. Because of that, I have to
follow the rules and stuff like that.
For the moment, nothing has been said to anyone. As of
now, the programs we set from 2021, as we said before,
we are executing. Right now I can tell you just rumors, like
many others, but nothing is set yet.
Q. Conor, we’ve been talking about how many teams
you’ve driven for in your career. We all know in
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INDYCAR the different levels of equipment, how we
rate them. Where would you kind of rate the Juncos
Hollinger Chevrolet-powered entry, what you’re going
to have a chance to fight with on Saturday?
CONOR DALY: I think the proof is in what the team has
already done this year. A lot of great qualifying
performances, a lot of bad luck that they’ve been a victim
of at times.
Yeah, I mean, I think we have a great chance at
competing. I hadn’t been teammates with Roman before.
We definitely kind of at the test pushed each other run by
run. One run I’m fastest, then he goes faster, then I go
faster, he goes faster. It’s kind of nice to just go to work
like that.
The reason why I’m more confident is because I’ve actually
worked with a lot of these guys before. A lot of the
engineers, especially Yves, the technical director, he was
the technical director at Carlin when we were flying. I
definitely have a lot of faith in those guys.
For sure this team, I think it’s looked at as an underdog, but
I think there’s a lot of great things going on in this race
shop and with this group.
It’s a very exciting opportunity because I think there’s a lot
of great potential here, for sure.
Q. It sounds like there’s a lot of synergy. Without
trying to throw shade at other teams, would you say,
given what you felt at the test, that this is probably the
best opportunity you’ve had in a very long time?
CONOR DALY: I mean, I don’t know about that ’cause the
Meyer Shank opportunity last year was really cool,
although very short-lived. That was something that I think
was also very good. I don’t want to say anything like that.
Without a doubt, it’s the most consistent opportunity I’ve
had so if we build on something that we find at Gateway,
we can probably use it. I get to go to the simulator, stuff
like that, stuff that I have not done in years. That’s really
nice.
But that’s how you’re supposed to go about doing it. You
know what I mean? Use the information day to day,
develop the car, then things that you learn one weekend
you take to the next. Everyone else is doing that.
This is one of the most competitive championships in the
entire world. It’s hard to be good. You have to have all
these things going your way for that to happen.
Q. There’s a wide pool of talented drivers that any
owner could pick. What made Conor the easy choice?
RICARDO JUNCOS: I think it’s like I said before, even if
it’s true that we have options, I think Conor first of all was
one of my guys, right? We have a history together. He’s
back with us now.
He did really good things when you see what he was able
to do. He’s talking about the different teams. It’s obvious
he’s very good. I remember when he was doing Indy
Lights, he was leading the championship when he decided
to go to Europe. He was beating Josef Newgarden.
He’s one of the good ones. I never has a doubt on him,
never. We’ll see now what we can do for these five races.
THE MODERATOR: Stroll down memory lane, Conor.
CONOR DALY: Good memories (smiling).
Q. Conor, how does it feel to have that feeling of being
wanted? It seems like every year it comes in and you’ll
get this analogy in sports, you hear about players
wanting to be a starter. It’s not how you start, it’s the
guys in the game at the end of the game. Your
thoughts on getting that feeling of being wanted again.
CONOR DALY: Well, I think obviously I still have to do the
job every weekend. When I show up, I put everything that
I’ve got into this.
It’s been something that obviously, if you followed my
career, it’s been quite a tornado. There’s a new Twisters
movie out. But it’s been crazy, it’s been up and down.
I think when it’s been up, I’m very, very proud of it. When
it’s been tough, there’s always things that either I will take
responsibility for or I will understand why.
In the end, it feels really good to hear him say that. Again,
I think I’m not at the young end of my INDYCAR career.
Like, I know that. I have so much that I want to do. I have
so much that we train every day for, for these chances to
come about.
Even if it was one race, I would go about it the same way.
But this is an opportunity to go and find success together.
This team is right on the verge of getting trophies and
bringing home some champagne to the race shop. I would
love to be the guy to do that.
I’m excited, but my life exists for the next six weeks, then
who knows what happens. That is the way I’ve had to live,
which is usually tougher for maximum, maximum
147374-1-1004 2024-08-14 21:23:00 GMT Page 3 of 4
performance. I’m going to do the best I can, put everything
I’ve got into it and show them I really want to bust my butt
to deliver some results for these guys.
Q. What can you have learned from the teams and
take the good and apply, bring it over to Juncos, so
forth?
CONOR DALY: I mean, honestly there’s not a lot that
needs to be brought to this team. Even the short time I’ve
been there so far, I think they have impressed me beyond
belief. Like, there’s a lot of great things happening there.
I think, when you compare to maybe other newer groups,
other two-car groups that have been around a long time,
this group is certainly at the sharp end of those, fighting
with the big teams that now have huge budgets, huge
staffs. It’s very impressive.
I think there’s nothing that needs to be brought, other than I
guess what I’ve learned in my career so far, the experience
that I can go off of just to work with the engineers and be
like, Hey, this is I think where we need to be. We’ll see
what happens.
In the end, every day that we have to go racing, it’s a full
team effort. Everyone in the pits does their job, I do my
job, we all do our jobs. Everyone has to be prepared.
When all of that stuff goes right, you should be rewarded
with good results.
Q. Your plan on the next six weekends will be race by
race or you have special targets?
CONOR DALY: When it comes to goals per race, I’ve
talked with Ricardo about this, realistically I know points
are the most important thing. We want to fight at the front,
but I think I would have to probably reduce the risk overall
because points are most important.
I think obviously we’re a racing team, so we want to
compete at the front, we want to do the best job that we
can. I don’t like setting expectations ’cause I truly don’t
know enough about us as a group yet until we get into a
race or two, then I’ll figure it out.
But yeah, I personally hold expectations very, very high for
Gateway because I know I have gone well there in the past
and that we’ve got to test there.
We have to go out early to qualify, but other than that I
think we’ll be in great shape.
Q. Milwaukee and Nashville, you ran before on these
tracks. What expectations do you have?
CONOR DALY: Nashville, I have not been on a track like
Nashville I think ever in my life. Definitely an interesting
one.
Milwaukee I drove in 2009 when I was racing against
Ricardo in the Indy Pro 2000 Series. That track is very
unique. I’m honestly very curious to see what that feels
like in an INDYCAR. I know most everyone tested there.
That will be an interesting one. Older surface, a bit bumpy,
tire deg is really important for the race. We’ll see.
But I love the idea of Nashville. Any bigger ovals for me,
that’s an exciting situation for INDYCAR racing. That’s the
INDYCAR racing I grew up loving.
Q. How has it been working with Roman so far?
CONOR DALY: It’s been good. I’ve actually been
speaking to Roman since he got over here really. I think
right when he got over to do INDYCAR for the very first
year, we had dinner pretty early on just to kind of chat, see
what’s going on, see how he liked it over here. He’s
always been cool to me. There’s been a lot of different
thoughts and opinions, he’s been involved in a lot of
interesting altercations in this INDYCAR SERIES. He’s
always been really cool to me.
After just being his teammate for one test, the guy is
extremely talented, and he’s been great to work with. I
think this team is in a great spot. It’s nice to be a part of it.
THE MODERATOR: Roman posted that Conor is going to
be an awesome teammate on those ovals. Let’s go team.
CONOR DALY: I saw that. Hopefully I’m some assistance
at Portland, too (laughter).
THE MODERATOR: We’ll leave it there. Thank you.
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