The previous rounds at Barber Motorsports Park saw the addition of a new driver on the grid, although this one hardly needs an introduction. Conor Daly may primarily be known for his open-wheel endeavors, as he has been a familiar face in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for over a decade now, but more recently he has also stepped foot into the world of GT racing.
Daly, who has joined the Random Vandals Racing fleet alongside teammate Kenton Koch, had been eagerly awaiting the day the GT3 program finally came to fruition.
“This is a program that I saw get built up since day one,” Daly explained. “Paul Sparta, the Team Owner, has been a long time supporter and friend of mine, pretty much ever since I was a kid in karting. It’s really cool to see where this program started to where we are now with the latest and greatest stuff. It’s been great to see the progression and the amount of drivers that are a part of this team, and I’m happy to be here as it continues to grow. And obviously the big kicker at the end of the season is the Indy 8 Hour.”
As the final round of the season approaches, Daly will have the opportunity to experience Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a brand new way.
“The funny thing is, I was a spotter at last year’s event,” he said. “I got to see the Pirelli GT4 races and a lot of the Indy 8 Hour, which was really cool. I think it's awesome, anytime you get to go to IMS it's an amazing honor and a great privilege. To get to see this level of GT3 competition there is really exciting.”
His experience as an IndyCar driver has resulted in him putting in a substantially large number of laps around the Brickyard, having competed on the oval track and road course layouts on numerous occasions. Notably, he was the biggest mover on the grid in the 2024 edition of the world-famous Indianapolis 500, an event he has competed in many, many times. Nevertheless, Daly insists that the eight hour endurance event will be a completely different challenge.
“Absolutely nothing translates between open-wheel racing and sportscar racing,” he stated. “Thankfully we’ve had a couple of test days and I've been able to wrap my head around it a little bit. I've raced more sportscars than people think I have, but it's just been very sporadic in my career. It’s been an interesting challenge to get used to this BMW and figuring out how it likes to be driven. But that's the exciting thing about these cars. There are so many different manufacturers, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, so it will be cool to see how that all works out at IMS when we're pushing for eight hours straight.”
When discussing the approach he and the team will take in preparation for the season finale event, he added that “there’s a lot of great competition, with strong teams and drivers. I just have to try to learn everything as fast as possible. We’re gaining experience in this car and getting up to speed on how to become faster and faster.”
In addition to Koch, BMW M Motorsport works driver Connor De Phillippi will be joining the team for the final round, which is a teammate combo that Daly views as a major asset; “Kenton (Koch) is an extremely talented driver, he's proven that he knows exactly what he's doing in any type of car he gets in. It's great to have an experienced driver like that as a teammate. Then of course I've known Connor De Phillippi since we were kids and he's obviously extremely talented and heavily woven into the BMW family, which is super important. We've got a great lineup and we've gotten to test together and understand a little bit about how we all work together. Thankfully we all kind of want the same thing out of the car, which is usually even more helpful.”
His objective is clear; he and his Random Vandals Racing counterparts are setting out to win the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS, nothing less.
“The goal is to beat everyone all the time. We always want to be ahead of everyone else, no matter who they are or what car they drive.”
To watch Conor Daly take on the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS, purchase your tickets now and join us trackside from October 4th to 6th for the grand finale event to conclude the 2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS championship.
