Open Wheel Cancer: American Conor Daly has no money to buy an IndyCar ride

Conor Daly is the latest in a long line of talented American Open-Wheel drivers that will eventually be forced to race under the France Family umbrella where drivers get paid to drive – i.e. professional motorsports, not amateur like IndyCar where drivers have to buy their ride.

Aspiring American IndyCar Series driver Conor Daly's name is one race fans and the motorsports media have in recent seasons recognized as one to watch on the sport's list of potential future stars. But the life of a young driver attempting to make it to the top is not always a glamorous stream of fast cars, models and corporate jets — or even driving in professional races. Autoweek spoke with the 22-year-old Indiana native about his plans for 2014 and beyond.

Autoweek: You've won the Skip Barber national championship, the Star Mazda championship. You've won a couple races in the GP3 Series and scored points in a GP2 Series race. You won the Indy Lights race in Long Beach in 2011, and raced for A.J. Foyt in last year's Indianapolis 500. A lot of young drivers would love to have that resume. Where do you stand for the upcoming season?

Conor Daly: I have no drives in anything at all, anywhere in the world.

AW: Is it simply a function of money?

CD: Exactly. I have no money, no one's willing to support me [to the level that's required]. The IndyCar teams all need money; I missed all of the opportunities at the seats that were [already] funded. And I've been at this every day for the last three months.

AW: Plenty of talented drivers have struggled to find support during the past few years. As you've chased sponsorship, what seems to be the biggest hurdle finding the necessary backing for an IndyCar ride?

CD: There's just no interest in the numbers that are thrown out there. For [one of the full-time seats that was possible], I needed around $2.5 million, probably $3 million to just get in the game, and I could raise maybe $600,000. And that's all through people who have already supported me. No companies want to support it [to that degree]. It's a sad state.

AW: As of this moment, this is the first time in years you haven't had a single thing lined up going into the racing season. What changed for 2014?

CD: Here's the thing: There has been one year in my career so far where I've had to find the actual budget through supporters and sponsors. In 2008, I won the Skip Barber national championship and that paid for 2009 [in Star Mazda]. I had to fund 2010 through sponsors because I didn't win the championship the first year, but then that was like $250,000, and I found the sponsors to do that.

Then in 2010, I won the Star Mazda championship, and that paid for my entire next season, which was my first year in GP3, and five Indy Lights races. Then I signed a contract with Force India, and it paid for my last two years in GP3 with Lotus and with ART. So I've never had a big sponsor, I've just been funded by Force India and by what I've won. It's kind of the way you want to do it — until you get to a certain point. And now nothing's happening.

AW: What happened to the Force India deal?

CD: Force India just couldn't fund me anymore. That's just how it worked and they were great to me. And contractually, I had to win the GP3 championship last year. And I didn't. Getting taken out in one race killed my championship — and my European career essentially.

AW: In retrospect, should you have gotten to work chasing sponsors for this year sooner than you did?

CD: That's the thing, man, I was. I was trying to get in with IndyCar teams. But I've always been on the hunt. Essentially we didn't know we weren't going to have support from Force India until just before Christmas. So that's how that kind of worked out.

AW: Does the amount of funding you need for IndyCar vary wildly from team to team?

CD: It varies based on what kind of sponsorships the teams already have. What's good about IndyCar and some of the teams is they are constantly looking for their own sponsorship, they want to be able to hire the drivers they want. But obviously it's so difficult to find, for anyone; most of the teams have some [sponsorship] but they don't have it all. But generally it's nothing less than $1.5 million [you need to bring].

AW: Are you confident you can land a ride for the Indianapolis 500 and maybe some other races, even if it's not a full-time deal?

CD: Yeah, I'm confident I can do something for the 500 for sure. Look, I'm not blaming the series or anyone else for my particular situation at the moment. You asked me to explain how difficult it is out there right now, so I'm answering.

I do think it's unfortunate to see some of the teams making some of the decisions they are making, especially the ones that do have the funding. To go with guys who have had their chances, who are, of course, proven guys who you kind of know what you'll get — but how do you develop a sport with guys from the past? Especially when you announce a guy like Jacques Villeneuve [for the Indy 500], the media is catching on.

AW: So what is your overall outlook at this point?

CD: All is not lost, I'm just working at it. I'm going to make it happen. Something may not happen this year but I'll do the best I can do to do any races I can. But you're always only one deal away, so I could get a call from someone tomorrow and be going racing. You never know!

AW: What if that call doesn't come?

CD: You know, that's an interesting thing, because I have no idea. Ever since I've been racing since 10 years old, I've had full seasons of competition to do, and full rides to focus on. And I've never been presented with this kind of situation. So I don't know what I'm going to do, I'm going to continue living at my mom's house (laughs) …

I give credit to a lot of the guys in IndyCar for supporting me. I've spoken to Oriol Servia and Alex Tagliani and [Ganassi Racing managing director] Mike Hull, guys I've just been asking for advice, asking hey guys, if something doesn't happen this year, what do I do? And so I think I'll just go to all the IndyCar races, be there and be seen.

Mike Hull, especially, told me to be in sight, be there all the time, make it known. And that's all I can do, so I'll be there. Oriol Servia is a guy who's been in this position many times and he's never been one to bring the sponsorship, he wants to be hired on his own merit, which he deserves. He told me to just keep working on it and keep doing what you can do.

So I think it'll happen. It's obviously not going to happen this year, but I'm hoping teams will catch on and there will be a resurgence of young talent because there are good guys out there.

AW: Everyone who has ever raced, on any level, knows how difficult it is and how expensive it is. But sometimes people seem to assume that because you have a name, because your dad was a professional racer — and this applies to you and your father Derek, to Graham and Bobby Rahal, to Marco and Michael Andretti, to name a few — that things are just handed to you in this sport …

CD: I wouldn't be where I am today without my dad. Not because of money; it's just been his connections, the people he's known. If it wasn't for the guys he knew super-well at Force India, I probably wouldn't have been contracted to them and driven their Formula One car [in testing] three times over two years.

So it's been huge to have his connections — but essentially, now? Nothing. Without the big-dollar figure behind you, you're not going to go any further. Obviously I'm going to try to do the best I can to make it happen myself, I'm doing what I can to put a program together and to get people involved.

I honestly believe this experience of not being in it and having to work more to put it together will be good for me in the future. It's a learning experience always. AutoWeek