"A moment I'll never forget": Conor Daly shares his feelings about IndyCar champ Will Power's heartwarming gesture

Conor Daly has made his feelings known about two-time IndyCar champ Will Power's heartfelt gesture for him after the first of two 2024 Hy-vee Milwaukee Mile 250s. On that fateful day, Daly scored his first podium finish in eight years and gave Juncos Hollinger Racing its first IndyCar podium ever.

JHR brought the Indiana native on board for the final five races of the 2024 season to replace Agustín Canapino. At Milwaukee Mile 1, Daly started in a low 25th position. With his back against the wall, he displayed a magical drive for the fans in attendance by making a race-high 51 passes during the race and moving up 22 places to finish third. He gained 11 positions in the opening lap itself.

It was Daly's second career podium since his P2 in Detroit in 2016. When he got out of the car, race winner Pato O'Ward congratulated him, and the biggest mark of respect came from second-place finisher Will Power. He embraced Daly and was highly animated in congratulating him, almost as if he was rooting for him to earn a breakthrough.

"That was a moment that I’ll never forget," Conor Daly recently told Divebomb about Power's gesture. "That guy is one of the fastest to have ever driven a race car. That type of respect is something that I will never forget."

Daly took control of P3 with 28 laps to go in the 250-lap race. Incidentally, it was Power's overtaking move on Santino Ferrucci in P2 that Daly capitalized on to push Ferrucci to P4. Juncos Hollinger Racing eventually signed its newfound star for the 2025 season.

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Conor Daly stood in support of Will Power with the 2x champ's IndyCar future looking uncertain

Conor Daly at the NTT IndyCar Series GMR Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Will Power is in the last year of his current contract with Team Penske. At 44, he is at retirement age for most racers, but his performance hasn't waned a bit. The 2018 Indy 500 winner is the only other driver than Alex Palou to win a championship in the past four seasons.

However, with a young talent like David Malukas rumored to be a replacement option at Team Penske, Power, who has negotiated all his IndyCar contracts himself, signed with two-time F1 champ Fernando Alonso's management company, A14 management, before the 2025 season.

Conor Daly made Power's case even stronger on his Speed Street podcast on YouTube in January 2025, saying:

"Will Power definitely, I believe, does not want to be done, and the guy is still fighting for wins and championships. Is this (signing with A14) a sign to Penske that 'Hey, I've got real management because I deserve to be here. So I'm gonna have people in your ears every day trying to negotiate a new deal.' I believe Will Power has done nothing other than deserve a shot to continue at Penske."

At IndyCar's first race of 2025 at St. Petersburg, while Daly had an ordinary outing with a P17 result, Power crashed out in lap 1.