Juncos Hollinger Racing had been waiting well over seven years for a maiden IndyCar podium, until they strolled up at the Milwaukee Mile.
A track itself who had been waiting nine years for a reunion with IndyCar after falling off the calendar in 2015, played host to a special moment for the Argentine-American outfit.
During Saturday’s race one for the Milwaukee Mile, Conor Daly – just a few races into a comeback after leaving the series in 2023, put in a performance for the ages.
After starting 25th on the grid, he gained 22 positions to finish third, securing the teams first podium, all while being just two seconds off the win.
Conor Daly emotional after special podium performance
It had been eight years since Daly last stepped onto the rostrum in Detroit for Dale Coyne Racing, making this result on his comeback even sweeter.
It’s fair to say that the American didn’t even expect to be sitting behind the cockpit of an IndyCar again, let alone finishing inside the top three.
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To back up their great weekend, Romain Grosjean claimed ninth in the second race to make sure that the team left Milwaukee with a great haul of points for both cars.
Disaster struck for Daly in the second race as he dropped out early as a result of reliability problems, but Saturday’s result more than made up for that.
“We did it. podium for this amazing team. Thank you for allowing me to be an IndyCar driver again. This means so much,” his team posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).
What comes next for Daly?
Daly was hired to replace Augustin Canapino last month, who had been dropped from the team before a race at Gateway.
He has been a consistent performer since, qualifying inside the top 10 and finishing every race that he has competed in.
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His earlier aims were to help secure points for the team, who could have achieved a lot more this season if it wasn’t for some bad luck.
They are yet to announce either of their two drivers for the 2025 season yet, but Daly’s teammate Grosjean has been offered a deal to remain with the outfit.
Whether or not the 32-year-old has done enough to convince them that he should be considered remains to be known, but he would make a great addition to a team that is still relatively new to the sport.