IndyCar veteran Conor Daly will drive the No. 78 car for Juncos Hollinger Racing for the remainder of the season, beginning with this weekend's race at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis, the team announced Wednesday.
Daly is taking over for Agustin Canapino, who parted ways with the team last week after a series of social media firestorms.
“I am extremely pleased to reunite with (team co-owner) Ricardo Juncos after our success together in the Road to Indy,” Daly said, referring to the IndyCar feeder system. “Ricardo took a chance on me when I was young and it made a huge difference in my career. There are a lot of people on this team that I’ve worked with before and that gives me a lot of confidence.”
Canapino stepped away from Juncos Hollinger Racing in June before a race at Road America after disputing claims that rival driver Théo Pourchaire of Arrow McLaren Racing had received online death threats from Canapino's fans following an on-track incident between the two. Arrow McLaren wound up severing its technical and marketing relationship with the team.
Another driver, former Juncos Hollinger teammate Callum Ilott, has said Canapino’s passionate fan base had made threatening comments last season. Ilott said he felt he never received support from the team and was released at the end of last season.
Meanwhile, Canapino's performance also had been on a downward spiral. A string of five consecutive finishes of 18th or worse had dropped him to 23rd in the standings, and in danger of falling out of the top 22 of the $1 million Leaders Circle.
Daly will be driving for his third team this season. He drove from 29th to 10th in the Indianapolis 500 in an entry for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and he replaced the injured Jack Harvey for Dale Coyne Racing for a race at Iowa in July.
Daly will work with Juncos Hollinger teammate Romain Grosjean for the remainder of the season.
“Having Conor Daly back in a JHR car after many years is like a flashback to some great memories," Juncos said. “We achieved a lot together. Now it’s time to focus on what’s ahead and aim for strong results for the rest of the NTT IndyCar Series season."
In other news, Katherine Legge will be back in the No. 51 car for Dale Coyne Racing for Saturday night's race near St. Louis.
Legge was in the car for the Indianapolis 500 and the doubleheader at Iowa, and now will continue with the ovals on the IndyCar schedule when she goes to World Wide Technology Raceway to drive alongside teammate Jack Harvey.
“Katherine has done a good job for us this year on the ovals and we’re happy to have her back this weekend in the 51 car,” team owner Dale Coyne said. “We’ve had success at that oval track in the past, so we look forward to seeing what Katherine and Jack will do this weekend.”
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FILE - Conor Daly walks to driver introductions before an IndyCar auto race, Sunday, July 14, 2024, at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Billionaire tech executive Elon Musk cast the upcoming presidential election in dire terms during an appearance with Donald Trump, calling the Republican presidential nominee the only candidate “to preserve democracy in America.”
The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla who also purchased X, Musk joined Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday at the site where the former president survived an assassination attempt in July. Musk said “this will be the last election” if Trump doesn’t win. Wearing a cap with the “Make America Great Again” slogan of Trump’s campaign, Musk appeared to acknowledge the foreboding nature of his remarks.
“As you can see I am not just MAGA — I am Dark MAGA,” he said.
It was the first time that Musk joined one of Trump's rallies and was evidence of their growing alliance in the final stretch of the presidential election. Musk created a super political action committee supporting the Republican nominee and it has been spending heavily on get-out-the-vote efforts. Trump has said he would tap Musk to lead a government efficiency commission if he regains the White House.
Trump joined Musk in August for a rare public conversation on X, a friendly chat that spanned more than two hours. In it, the former president largely focused on the July assassination attempt, illegal immigration and his plans to cut government regulations.
Before a large crowd Saturday, Musk sought to portray Trump as a champion of free speech, arguing that Democrats want “to take away your freedom of speech, they want to take away your right to bear arms, they want to take away your fight to vote, effectively." Musk went on to criticize a California effort to ban voter ID requirements.
The event took place at the same property where a gunman’s bullets grazed Trump’s right ear and killed a Trump supporter, Corey Comperatore. The shooting left multiple others injured.
Several members of Comperatore’s family, as well as other attendees and first responders from the July rally, returned to the site on Saturday. Also appearing with the former president were his running mate Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance, son Eric Trump, daughter-in-law and RNC co-chair Lara Trump, along with Pennsylvania lawmakers and sheriffs.
Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attends a campaign event with Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, from left, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, attend a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, from left, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, attend a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
