The return of the Nashville Superspeedway as IndyCar’s final race of the season has thrown up an incredibly exciting event.
A championship fight which has burst into life, and the risk of looming weather over the track have all added to the excitement this weekend.
Some drivers are bidding farewell to their current teams as they move on for 2025, while others are still fighting for an opportunity to remain with their current outfit.
Conor Daly is one of those people, who has pleasantly surprised since returning to the IndyCar grid this summer with a few excellent performances.
Conor Daly ‘feels good’ after qualifying in terrific seventh-place
The American is currently without a drive for 2025, and probably never even expected to be back behind the wheel of a Dallara chassis IndyCar again after dropping off the grid in 2023.
Seen as a bit of an ‘oval specialist’, he proved those credentials once again in qualifying for the Music City Grand Prix with a terrific two-lap average speed that will see him line-up in seventh for the race.
That’s just two weeks on from an even better result of third at the Milwaukee Mile, where he claimed Juncos Hollinger Racing’s first-ever podium.
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The team are yet to decide who will drive for them next year and have offered a contract to Daly’s teammate Romain Grosjean, but there’s still a chance that Daly has done enough to earn himself an opportunity.
“Heck yeah TEAM!,” he said on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Starting P7 for the Music City Grand Prix. That feels good! Let’s finish the job tomorrow!”
Why title finale could offer a chance for another incredible result
With Nashville happening to be IndyCar’s final race of the season, Sunday’s race offers the opportunity for widespread chaos.
Drivers with nothing to lose, and a championship fight going right down to the wire will mean that there will be cautions.
A massive bump at the final turn has also played havoc with all the drivers so far this weekend, so expect more troubles when the stakes increase during the 206-lap race.
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If it happened once, it could just as easily happen again for Daly, who may even have a shot at victory if things go his way.
He has a car capable of achieving such a feat and could spark a surprise in the race as he embarks on one final quest to prove himself worthy of a 2025 drive.