Conor Daly gets honest about intense Pato O'Ward battle at WWTR: "There's a reason that guy's got a bunch of money”

Juncos Hollinger Racing star Conor Daly came out and hailed Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward after the IndyCar race at the World Wide Technology Raceway. The two drivers were involved in an intense battle for the lead of the race, and as Daly reflected on the oval race, he praised O'Ward's talent.

Conor Daly began the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at the WWTR in P15 after a disappointing qualifying. However, the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver had an excellent start and was already in the Top 5 a quarter of the way into the race.

Josef Newgarden crashed almost halfway through the race and ended up upside down in the #2 Team Penske Chevrolet. As the caution was brought out, all the drivers pitted for fresh rubber, including the leaders. Pato O'Ward and Conor Daly, who were running P4 and P5, jumped the Top 3 in the pit stops and came out 1-2 behind the safety car.

The race went back to green on Lap 150 with the Arrow McLaren driver and the JHR driver battling for the lead of the race. The duo fought for almost 5 laps, with Daly taking the higher line (like he had been doing since the race started) and Pato O'Ward defending his lead on the inside.

Daly eventually passed the Mexican driver on Lap 154 and took the lead of the race. However, the two ran 1-2, fighting for the lead until Lap 190 when Daly pitted for new tires. Conor Daly was questioned about his battle with Pato O'Ward during the post-race interviews, to which he replied:

“We just kept working, every restart, moving forward. Battling with Pato felt really good for the lead. Thought we had a shot at it honestly but the last two pit stops really hurt us.” (0:33 onwards)

“He raced me clean. There's a reason that guy has got a plane and a bunch of money and he's one of the best drivers right now. He's really good, raced me clean and I gotta respect that,” he added.

Conor Daly's comments about Pato O'Ward having a bunch of money were a reference to the time when the Mexican driver's salary was revealed publicly during McLaren's lawsuit against Alex Palou.

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"We just lost too much in the pit cycle": Conor Daly on falling short of a WWTR win

Conor Daly made his penultimate pitstop on Lap 190, which was a little earlier compared to the other lead pack around him, and had a sluggish pit cycle. Daly's last pitstop wasn't anything to write home about either, which was further plagued by degradation issues on the final set of tires.

Daly explained that he had a car capable of winning the race but was let down by the final two pit stops. He said:

“We were better than he was for sure. Our car was better.”

“We just lost too much in the pit cycle. It seemed to just fall off a little bit more (last stint),” added Daly when questioned about the troublesome final stint.

Conor Daly finished the race at World Wide Technology Raceway in P6, where Pato O'Ward finished on the podium behind the race winner Kyle Kirkwood.