Conor Daly will sub for Pagenaud in the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda
Pataskala, Ohio (18 July 2023) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) is prepared for the only double-header INDYCAR SERIES event of the season at Iowa Speedway this weekend after a quick turnaround following a tough team weekend on the streets of Toronto on Sunday.
Following further evaluation, MSR full-season driver Simon Pagenaud has not been cleared by the INDYCAR Medical Team to compete in the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway.
The decision comes three weeks after Pagenaud experienced a massive shunt at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course following a manufacturer brake failure. Having done so on short notice at Mid-Ohio, Conor Daly will once again step into the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda and substitute for Pagenaud. The No. 60 Honda will also feature a new logo on its side pod starting this weekend. Eight-time GRAMMY winner, Carrie Underwood launched her new SiriusXM Channel, “Carrie’s Country” – SXM Ch. 60 – with the logo being displayed on the side of the No. 60 Honda at Iowa Motor Speedway and Nashville.
Last weekend Meyer Shank Racing recruited its IMSA championship winning driver, Tom Blomqvist to sub in the No. 60 Honda in Toronto – marking a big INDYCAR SERIES debut for the Brit who was unfortunately collected in a first lap crash.
Daly heads into the Iowa weekend with seven race starts at the 0.875-mile tri-oval and a bundle of recent success. Iowa Speedway was the site of Daly’s first-ever INDYCAR SERIES pole position in 2020 as one of his three career top-three qualifying results, with the American racer earning his best race finish of eighth in 2020.
Helio Castroneves heads into the third oval of the season looking for a change of fortunes after getting knocked out of the Honda Indy Toronto event. The Iowa circuit could be a good spot to do that, as Castroneves has a strong record at the short oval. He qualified on the front row in his first outing in Iowa in 2007, claiming his first pole position at Iowa two years later in 2009, and then scoring a win at the Midwest bullring in 2017.
In addition to the double-header race weekend, the Hy-Vee event will put on two concerts on Saturday and Sunday.
The Hy-Vee Iowa weekend will feature the first of two races on Saturday – the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 with broadcast coverage on NBC starting at 3:00pm ET. The Hy-Vee One-Step 250 will go green on Sunday at 2:00pm ET with coverage on NBC. SiriusXM will also host live weekend IndyCar Radio coverage on XM Ch. 160.
Meyer Shank Racing Team Quotes:
Conor Daly:
“I’m thankful to Mike and Jim to calling me up to fill in for Simon again this weekend in Iowa. Obviously I’m wishing him the best and hope that he gets well soon. Iowa has definitely become one of my favorite tracks in the last couple of years. Obviously I have qualified really well there – qualified on the pole and started in the top three the last two years. Hopefully we can replicate that qualifying performance, but also deliver in the race. The team does an incredible job to prepare the car, so we’re going to do our best for Simon again. We’ll do everything we can to score some more points for the team and I’m thankful to drive this No. 60 car again for AutoNation and SiriusXm
Helio Castroneves:
“Iowa is definitely one of my favorite track to race at and its a place that I have done really well at in the past. I’m also looking forward to heading back to an oval, we haven’t raced on one since Indy, so that should be exciting. And of course, the weekend is just a huge show with the concerts and it has drawn tons of fans, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
