Conor Daly attempting to qualify for first Daytona 500 in car owned by Floyd Mayweather
DAYTONA BEACH — Conor Daly sat with Travis Pastrana for lunch Tuesday at a BJ’s down the street from Daytona International Speedway. Over salmon and broccoli, the two of them spent two and a half hours reflecting on what they were about to do.
“Very elite athlete stuff,” Daly said of their dishes. “We’re trying to be elite athletes.”
Daly has the chance to join the elites over the next few days. Much like Pastrana, the 31-year-old IndyCar driver is attempting to qualify for the Daytona 500 for the first time. He’s one of four drivers vying for the final two spots.
“I don’t know what to expect yet, but it’s just super cool to be here,” Daly said. “I’ve done the Rolex twice. I raced go-karts here when I was 12, 13, 14, so I’ve spent a lot of time here growing up, and I’m just excited for the chance — just to take in a lot of learning at a very high rate of speed. It’s going to be tough. It’s the biggest uphill battle that I’ve probably had to make a race.”
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Daly raced in the Cup Series once before, finishing 40th at the Bank of America Roval 400 last October.
He received that opportunity and this week’s under The Money Team Racing, owned by Floyd Mayweather Jr. The legendary boxer FaceTimed Daly before the latter’s appearance at the Roval.
“It was really cool just to get to interact, and to see his quote in our press release was just awesome,” Daly said. “The guy has been supportive of the team, so it’s cool to be affiliated with him. It’s cool to be on the team. It obviously means we want to do well for him because he’s super successful and we want to be successful for him.”
To prepare, Daly picked the brains of several different veterans. His first call after being offered a chance at the 500 was to AJ Allmendinger. He also asked Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Corey LaJoie, Chase Briscoe and others for insight.
He spent multiple hours in Chevrolet’s NASCAR simulator but knows nothing can truly prep him for this event.
“I think a lot of what makes this race so challenging and so difficult is what happens in the pack, what happens in the dirty air, in the movement of the cars that affects each side of the car and affects everything,” Daly said. “That’s something that’s impossible to simulate.”
He never even made it onto the track for qualifying laps Wednesday due to a mechanical issue with his No. 50 car. He’ll have to earn his way into the 40-car field during the Duel Thursday.
Regardless of what happens, Daly doesn’t expect this to be a one-off appearance at the superspeedway or in the Cup Series.
“I never do anything one and done,” he said. “I’d love to do as much as I can, but obviously, you never know when those opportunities come about. My goal would be to learn a lot this race and learn a lot in the Duel to use in the race we get to do on Sunday to then hopefully come back next year and feel way better. Who knows?
“I can’t tell the future, but I’ll do anything anytime any place.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Conor Daly trying to enter first Daytona 500 in Floyd Mayweather's car
