Conor Daly will contest the 102nd Indianapolis 500 in a joint effort between Dale Coyne Racing and Thom Burns Racing. Daly will be teammates with full-time Coyne entrant Sebastien Bourdais and part-time entrant Pietro Fittipaldi, with Daly piloting the No. 17 Honda with support from the U.S. Air Force.
The entry marks a return to Coyne’s team for Daly, who contested the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season in Coyne’s No. 18 Honda. It also sees Thom Burns, owner of a property development company in Indianapolis, formally launch Thom Burns Racing after being a part of the 500 with various teams and drivers since 1987. Burns also helped form PacWest Racing in the 1990s.
“We’re very happy to have Conor Daly back with us for the Indy 500,” said team owner Dale Coyne. “Conor has done a great job for us in the past and we hope to continue that this year at IMS. We also very much look forward to working with Thom Burns Racing and we’re extremely pleased and honored to be partnered and representing the United States Air Force.”
Today we can finally announce that I have the pleasure of representing the @usairforce @USAFRecruiting in the #17 @ThomBurnsRacing with @DaleCoyneRacing Honda in the 2018 #Indy500. As an American, this is a great honor and I couldn’t be more proud to drive this beauty. #USAF pic.twitter.com/azrjl5WN0O
— Conor Daly (@ConorDaly22) March 6, 2018
Daly added, “It is an honor to have the opportunity to represent the Air Force at the Indianapolis 500,” Daly said. “Memorial Day Weekend is an incredible time of appreciation for those who serve our country. I can’t thank Dale Coyne enough for having me back on the team and Thom Burns enough for bringing this program together with the Air Force to give us a fighting chance at the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500.”