|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
INDYCAR MEDIA CONFERENCEApril 25, 2015Conor DalySam SchmidtMODERATOR. We'll go ahead and get started with today's Verizon IndyCar Series media availability. We have a Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team announcement. Earlier today Schmidt Peterson Motorsports announced a third entry for the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500, which will be piloted by driver Conor Daly driving the No. 43 Honda-powered (Indy car). Conor, first of all, just tell us a little bit about I'm sure you're very excited to get back in the car. Obviously an opportunity came your way last week, but to be in the Indy 500 again must be very exciting for you. CONOR DALY: Yeah. I mean the last week thing was, I mean no one knew about that until Saturday morning, so that kind of has added to the happiness of the last, you know, this week and last week. So just, you know, obviously over the moon to just be back at the 500, and then have a shot with such a competitive team and a good group of guys, you know, with Honda and the whole, you know, Schmidt Peterson organization. I mean I know most of those guys still from 2011. So really cool to be back working with them. Q. And Sam, another opportunity for your team to run an additional car at Indy. Tell us a little bit about what that does for the team in general but also not just for a third entry, but with a driver that you've had experience with before and have given an opportunity to before? SAM SCHMIDT: Yeah, I mean we've always ran three for quite some time now. There's a full-time Indy car, and kind of highlighting 2011, all three cars in the top six, so we know we have the people to do it, and you know, fit the cars well, and Honda has been working really hard focusing on Indy 500. Obviously James (Hinchcliffe) being in the front row a couple of times short of strengthens that and gives us a direction and we've been working all winter on Indy 500. So this is really good. Like Conor said, you know, he left the Indy Lights season there in 2011 to go to GP3 and was leading the points at that time. So we've always felt he was capable of being here full time in Indy car, and I think he proved that last week to jump in and go and be as solid as he was at Long Beach. So hopefully we can build upon it and it'll just add information, add a dimension and it'll just be a really strong effort. Q. Conor, you're joining a team that's seen some early success this season. Does that encourage you as you head into the month of May, not just for opportunity to drive but an opportunity for maybe a strong showing? CONOR DALY: Yeah, for sure. The result at Noah for the whole team you could tell how happy I was for that. It's a good way to really start off the year. So I'm just excited to get to work and have more than 30 minutes to prepare for a practice session. So, you know, finally I get to go and maybe make my own seat and be ready to run on May 3rd, which will be a lot of fun I'm sure. Q. (About sitting out last year’s Indianapolis 500). CONOR DALY: Yeah. It was killer to miss it last year. I was like really hurting watching every session on my computer while I was in Europe. So really, really nice to be back. Very satisfied. You know, it's just as a driver in my situation, I've always just been kind of walking around and now to get something like this, you can actually go to work and do what you've been doing for the last however many years I've been racing, 13, 14 years. Now you have an opportunity to work. And so that's, you know, I cannot wait to just do the job, get to work and just start, you know, trying to do the best job that I can with the opportunity. Q: Gentlemen, I understand that sponsorship will be announced at a later date, but Sam, just the opportunity again to run three cars and just the importance of the Indy 500 to the team. What does it mean to you as a team owner just to have that many horses in the show to say. SAM SCHMIDT: It's always good. That's what you work for. We've gone seven wins there with Indy Lights, and so that's -- we know the place, we like it, and it's the grand daddy. You really -- I think most team owners would say they're not sure whether they'd rather win that or the whole championship. I think right now that's where we want to be is to win the Indy 500. And we had a piece of that in 2011 with Dan and with the new cars and everything else, it's definitely where we want to be. I mean going back to Conor, I think, you know, even the last time he was there was sort of a last-minute effort and not -- you know, we're planning on really going at this thing right with maximum miles, maximum tire sets and everything. I think from that perspective it's a lot less pressure, and you know, just be able to work up to it and work on race setup and work on qualifying setup and all the things you normally do. So that's a really good opportunity for both of us. I think the target is in about a week to unveil the car and announce the sponsor ship. That's also really big for the team just to be able to continue on the commercial side, you know, bringing in arrow this year and the other partners that we have to solidify and confirm that we're here, you know, for the while, for a while. So that's the biggest part of it. The kid would be here full time if it wasn't for the lack of funding. So we did test them in the off season and we were very impressed and just couldn't get the full season funding together. So that's what we're working towards. Q. I know you mentioned wanting to get Conor some laps and do it right this time around. What's it like for a team owner to run a younger driver, a driver that has a little less experience than some of the other veterans in the field? As a team owner what are some adjustments you have to make for that? SAM SCHMIDT: Every one of them is different. You have to evaluate every one on a different level. He's got the advantage of having run a lot of the U.S. tracks, got the experience at Indy a couple of years. I think going over to Europe was not a bad idea, obviously chased that dream, but it's very competitive over there, massive, 25, 30-car fields, and so that level of competition, you know you gotta get to the end, and I think he proved that last week that he's kind of put it all together and he can do it. So I think we'll approach it a little bit, even though he doesn't have a lot of experience, that he will approach it a little more like he's a veteran than he was a pure rookie just because he's been there before and he's been here and been over to Europe. So I think it should get off very easily and go quick from the get go. That's our plan. Q. For Sam, if you're a team owner at Indy and you're running another car, it seems that your goal is to win Indy. So by having an additional entry, that gives you one more shot for the win. And could you talk about like how you would approach that from the team standpoint? Are you going to use some of the crews from your Indy lights team to fill in? SAM SCHMIDT: Yeah, I mean we've always sort of prided ourselves on the fact that our Indy lights team is an Indy car team that just happens to run Indy lights. We got a lot of guys there that have Indy car mechanical and technical experience, and because we keep it all in-house, it's an open book, you know, engineering session and everything that goes with that and not bringing in a lot of guys from the outside as a one off, which might make it difficult to transfer information. So it's totally like a full, you know, three-car effort. It's not separate. It's the way we've always done it, back to 2011. So it's really the best way for all three cars to be successful is if it's ran open like that. And so we got the experience and no reason it shouldn't be as competitive as the other teams. Q. Just out of curiosity, being a younger driver as Sam just said, do you use any kind of simulation? Will you guys be using any kind of a simulation program to help you get up to speed for the $500? Just curious if there's anything going on at the shop or at Honda or anything like that's being used? CONOR DALY: Well, considering we'll be on track like May -- pretty soon, I mean I don't know how much I'll be able to do at Dallara or Honda or anything. But I know a lot of the teams use it a lot. So I don't know what I'll be able to do, but I should be ready to go. Q. Conor, your father has raced at the Indianapolis 500 a number of times. Will he be able to give you any advice that would still be appropriate or pertain to the current fields and situations? I would think he could. And do you like getting advice from your dad? CONOR DALY: It's never appropriate. No. (Laughs). I mean to be honest, over the last like five months, it has been an absolute like -- feels like it's been like a war to be fighting to try and be back in a car. And my dad has been like at the front of the fight here. So you know, to have us all together in this has been really cool. And it's taken a lot of work from all of our -- all of our, you know, possible resources, and you know, I know we've all spent countless hours on how we're going to make this happen. And we have. So you know, the car looks awesome. It's going to be a really cool program, and you know, dad's going to be there, I'm sure. He missed out on all my races last year, so finally we get to be back here racing and he'll be there, which will be cool. Q. But the Indy 500 itself. CONOR DALY: Yeah, I mean the first one I did, obviously he was there, and for sure like gave me as much advice as possible. But you know, he's always there watching, so for sure he'll be -- you know, if he sees something, he's going to tell me, which is really helpful. And thankfully I've got two other drivers and like a big team to get information from as well. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|