Indianapolis, IN (May 14, 2016) – Dale Coyne Racing recorded its best performance this season with Conor Daly placing sixth in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday.
Both Daly and Chaves had the same strategy going into the race with the young American starting 22nd and the Columbian 23rd.
The pair had a good start and gained positions early on in the 82-lap event but their fortunes would take different directions following a full course caution on lap 38.
While Daly managed to get across the blend line ahead of the safety car following his pit stop, Chaves missed it by a few seconds which resulted in Daly moving into second place and Chaves finding himself 19th once the second round of pit stops had cycled through.
Daly went on to take the lead on the Lap 45 restart after getting by Helio Castroneves going into Turn 1. The rookie continued to impress, leading 14 laps and building a three second lead before making his final trip to pit lane.
Following the final round of stops, the driver of the #18 Jonathan Byrd’s Hospitality car found himself in third place, fighting with James Hinchcliffe.
Unfortunately, with no more overtakes to defend himself and tires that were quickly going away, Daly lost three positions to Hinchcliffe, Rahal and Kimball. He did, however, manage to hold off reigning Series Champion Scott Dixon in the final seven laps to register a sixth place finish, matching his career best Verizon IndyCar Series result.
While Daly was fighting up front, Chaves had his own battles with the likes of Will Power and Takuma Sato. The sophomore driver gained a few positions his final stint, moving up from 20th to cross the finish line in 17th.
There won’t be much time to rest for the Dale Coyne crew as the team will be back on track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 16 for the first day of practice for the Indianapolis 500.
Dale Coyne Racing Driver Quotes
Conor Daly – #18 Jonathan Byrd’s Hospitality & Restaurant Group
“It was a great effort from the team. They put us in the right place at the right time and thankfully I was able to get around Helio on the restart and go from there. It was a crazy race, even after the last stop coming out in traffic was just so painful but we tried our best to work around it. When Graham (Rahal) got around me I had no more overtakes left. I was really helpless and our rear tires were going away and Charlie (Kimball) got a good run on us. The other manufacturer is really hard to keep up with on the straight so he was able to get me but I had to hold on to what we could do. We just lost the tires at the end. But it was awesome to lead laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It’s a good way to kick off May here.”
Gabby Chaves – #19 Boy Scouts of America
“It was the first race back for me. We had the potential just like our teammate did. We were on the same strategy as Conor (Daly), we just got caught by a safety car at the wrong time. A few seconds difference and we would have been right there as well. We could’ve had a double team run for the top six. We just got unlucky with the safety car. I think I took a step forward as well, with this being my first race back and figuring everything out. It felt good in the car. We just have to keep working.”
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