Conor Daly finishes 10th but believes he was capable of more. 'It was a shame the way it ended.'
Mike Berardino
INDIANAPOLIS – Even after a career- and family-best 10th-place finish at the Indy 500, it was hard for Conor Daly not to think about what might have been.
"We really should have finished in the top five," said Daly, the Noblesville native whose best previous finish in five tries here was 21st in 2018. "It was a shame the way it ended."
Team owner Michael Andretti had similar regrets after Daly qualified 11th and climbed as high as fourth with 32 laps remaining. A late mechanical adjustment, Andretti said, may have cost Daly several places and left him vulnerable at the final restart with 18 laps to go.
"I'm really sorry that in a way I sort of screwed him," Andretti said. "We told our guys that if you can get the front wing in, do it. I should have just said, 'Don't touch the front wing,' and I didn't. That cost him like three spots under the green on that last stop. That was the difference because he would have been ahead of all that stuff."
Instead, Daly slid from sixth to 10th when he got stuck between first and second gear on the final restart.
"Everyone bunched up, and we were right in between gears," Daly said. "We just got jumped, and that's a shame. It was very surprising to me. Once you lose track position, it's almost impossible to get it back."
Daly's father, Derek Daly, raced in six Indy 500s from 1983-89, topping out at 12th in 1985.
"No idea how IndyCar put (Takuma) Sato in front of us," on the final restart, Daly said. "Never saw him the whole race before that last restart. I would love to just see why or where that happened because I never saw him – ever, the whole race."
More:Insider: Simon Pagenaud out-battles Alexander Rossi in dramatic Indy 500 finish
More:Late crash brings bitter end to the days of Rahal, Bourdais and other Indy 500 hopefuls
More:Indy 500 results: A summary of how each driver finished
Daly, 27, didn't necessarily think he had the car to win Sunday, but he was able to stalk Andretti Autosport teammate Alexander Rossi (who finished second) for most of the afternoon.
"It was just awesome to be with those guys," Daly said. "We were in the front all day. That's just such a fun feeling to just see everything that's going on and try to take advantage of it. To run with Alex, one of my best friends and teammates now, he's so good here. To be able to see some of what he was doing and try to run with him was really cool."
It was no small achievement for a driver who hadn't raced on the IndyCar circuit since Pocono Raceway last August. He credited first-time lead engineer Andy Listes with "an incredible job" preparing his Honda.
"There weren't a lot of people passing cars," said Daly, who tied for fifth with 25 passes. "When we did, I was, 'Oh, this is kind of cool.' It felt good to be one of those guys to actually make moves."
Somehow, Daly is still searching for a full-time sponsor. He hopes his strong showing will open some eyes when it comes to potential sponsorship, but added the process remains confusing.
"I want to be here full time so bad," Daly said. "I do think that a chance with a team like Andretti is so incredible. Now that I've tasted what that's like, I really want to continue to bring people into our program to help put the funding in place to make this a more long-term thing.
"I never really know what is good enough. I don't know what you have to do. Obviously win. Winning is the most important thing, and I get that. We haven't done that yet. I don't know what's enough, but I'm not going to go away."
Andretti left the door open for another pairing with Daly later this season.
"I would hope so," Andretti said. "We're working on a few things. I think there's a possibility. I'm really proud of him. He did a great job all month. He was fun to work with. He did everything right. He drove a really, really good race."
Follow Mike Berardino on Twitter @MikeBerardino. His email is mberardino@gannett.com.