Derek Patrick Daly (born 11 March 1953) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

former racing driver. He won the 1977

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seat ...

, and competed as a professional racing driver for 17 years participating in 64 World Championship

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Grands Prix, debuting on 2 April 1978. He scored a total of 15 championship points, and also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races. After F1, Daly raced in CART and

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...

, where he achieved much success with Nissan.

Racing career

After honing his skills in the Irish Formula Ford Championship, Daly had his first drive in the

European Formula Two Championship The European Formula Two Championship was a Formula Two motor racing series that was held between 1967–84. The races were held across Europe, and were contested both by drivers aiming to compete in Formula One in the future as well as curren ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

. In 1978 and 1979, he competed in both

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009– 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name ...

and

, finishing third in the Formula Two championship in both seasons. From 1980 to 1982, he focussed on Formula One, his best year being 1980, when he scored two fourth-place finishes and finished 11th in the Drivers' Championship. His two most memorable moments in F1 both came in the Monaco Grand Prix. In 1980 he crashed spectacularly at the first corner after vaulting three other cars. In 1982 he suddenly found himself in contention for the win when the four cars ahead of him ran into problems with under two laps to go, but ended up on the sidelines himself when his gearbox seized moments later. In 1982, Daly began driving in the CART series and continued through 1989. He started 66 CART races, including each

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

from 1983 to 1989, except for 1986. He finished in the top ten a total of 21 times, including one podium finish, 3rd position, at Milwaukee in 1987. In September 1984 he was nearly killed in a horrible crash in the CART PPG Detroit News Grand Prix 200 at

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than approximately south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track ...

. The front end of his car was sheared off and he suffered multiple injuries including a crushed left ankle, double compound fracture to the left tibia and fibula, fractured left hip socket, severely fractured pelvis, several broken left side ribs, broken left hand, 3rd degree burns to the left arm, dislocated right foot and ankle, deep abrasions and soft tissue to right heel, and internal bleeding. Daly won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1990 and 1991 driving a

Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo The Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo (also known as the GTP ZX-T) was a series of racing cars developed for Nissan Motors by Electramotive Engineering to compete in the IMSA GT Championship. Running from 1985 to 1990, they were known for being the first car to ...

. In 1990, he had the unusual distinction of driving both the first and second-placed cars.

Broadcast and business career

Daly is known in motor sports circles around the world as a driver, writer, broadcaster, racing advisor, and businessman. He runs a

professional services Professional services are occupations in the service sector requiring special training in the arts or sciences. Some professional services, such as architects, accountants, engineers, doctors, and lawyers require the practitioner to hold profe ...

company called MotorVation, and had been a commentator for American broadcasts of the

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...

series, as well as a public speaker. One of the agencies that represents him is the

National Speakers Bureau National Speakers Bureau is an Illinois-based speakers bureau. The firm, founded in 1972 by John Palmer, is currently led by Brian Palmer, who assumed the presidency in 1996. History After working as a band leader for twenty years, John Palmer ...

. In 2018, Daly was fired from a racing analyst position he had at

WISH-TV WISH-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Marion-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23) and low-power, ...

when WISH-TV attributed a racial slur that was uttered by Indianapolis Colts announcer Bob Lamey to him. While not disputing saying the slur, Daly contends that he did not use the offending language in the context Lamey alleged (Lamey claimed that Daly had once stated "... there aren't any (racial slur) in this race"), but instead used the word as part of a common Irish colloquialism during a 1983 radio interview, without being aware that in America the term was racist. Daly filed a $25M lawsuit as a result. In the aftermath, his son Conor had his sponsor, Lilly Diabetes, pull their support as he was set to make his

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

debut at Road America on 25 August 2018 due to the comments, even though Conor was not born for another 8 years after the fact. In 2021, all counts against

Emmis Communications Emmis Communications is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for Truth (Emet) was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR and WQHT, which h ...

, the Indianapolis Colts, and radio personality

Joe Staysniak Joseph Andrew Staysniak (born December 8, 1966) is a former sports radio talk show host and a former professional American football offensive lineman who played six seasons in the NFL. Staysniak worked for the talk radio stations WIBC (FM) and ...

were dismissed. The charge of conspiracy to defraud against Lamey was also dismissed, but he still faces five counts of defamation, tortuous interference of business, tortuous interference of a business relationship, and another count of punitive damages. Later that year, U.S. district court judge Richard L. Young ruled in favor of WISH-TV and the station's former parent company, Nexstar Media Group in all claims in Daly's lawsuit and ordered him to pay Nexstar's legal costs.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

CART results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Personal life

Daly became a US citizen and now resides in

Carmel, Indiana Carmel is a suburban city in Indiana immediately north of Indianapolis. With a population of 100,777, the city spans across Clay Township in Hamilton County, Indiana, and is bordered by the White River to the east; the Hamilton-Boone county l ...

. He has three sons,

Conor Conor is a male given name of Irish origin. The meaning of the name is "Lover of Wolves" or "Lover of Hounds". '' Conchobhar/Conchubhar'' or from the name ''Conaire'', found in Irish legend as the name of the high king Conaire Mór and other hero ...

, Colin and Christian. Daly's son,

Conor Daly Conor J. Daly (born December 15, 1991) is an American professional racing driver who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 20 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 50 Chevrolet Ca ...

, is also a racing driver, starting in GP3 driving for the Lotus GP team in 2012, and then continuing on to GP2 in 2014 driving for Venezuela GP Lazarus, and then IndyCar, starting part-time in 2013 and full-time in 2016. Daly's niece,

Nicola Daly Nicola Daly (born 3 April 1988), also referred to as Nicci Daly or Nikki Daly, is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. In 2010 Daly was a mem ...

, is an Ireland women's field hockey international and was a member of the squad that won the silver medal at the

2018 Women's Hockey World Cup The 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 14th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup, a field hockey tournament. It was held from 21 July to 5 August 2018 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London, England. Defending champions t ...

. She also works as a data engineer for

Juncos Racing Juncos Hollinger Racing, formerly Juncos Racing, is an Argentine-American racing team competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, Indy Lights and Indy Pro 2000 Championship series in the Road to Indy ladder for IndyCar. Owned by Ricardo Juncos, who for ...

References

External links

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Derek Daly Designs (course design business)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, Derek 1953 births British Formula Three Championship drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Champ Car drivers Irish racing drivers Irish Formula One drivers Hesketh Formula One drivers Ensign Formula One drivers Tyrrell Formula One drivers March Formula One drivers Theodore Formula One drivers Williams Formula One drivers European Formula Two Championship drivers Living people Motorsport announcers Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Sportspeople from County Dublin Television anchors from Indianapolis Formula Ford drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers People educated at Ardscoil Rís, Limerick

Derek Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of '' Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler". Common variants of the name ar ...

Nismo drivers BMW M drivers Jaguar Racing drivers