Conor Daly - Kubota Tractor 200 Race Preview
Race: Kubota Tractor 200 (134 laps / 201 miles) | Race 19 of 23
Track: Kansas Speedway
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
Date & Time: Friday, September 27th | 8:30 PM ET
Tune-In: FOX Sports 1 | Motor Racing Network (MRN) | Sirius XM Ch. 90
No. 44 Polkadot Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Conor Daly | Crew Chief: Cody Efaw
- Daly Returns: NTT INDYCAR SERIES veteran, Conor Daly returns to NASCAR this weekend to make his second start of the season behind the wheel of Niece Motorsports' No. 44 Chevrolet. Daly's first Truck Series start this year came at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, where he finished 29th due to a flat tire. He's made a total of four NCTS starts, finishing as high as 18th twice (Las Vegas, 2020 & Mid-Ohio, 2023)
- Daly's Kansas Stats: Conor Daly will make his first start in any series at Kansas Speedway in Friday's Kubota Tractor 200.
- Efaw's Kansas Stats: Cody Efaw has served as crew chief for four Truck Series races at Kansas Speedway since 2017. In 2018, while working with Austin Wayne Self, Efaw earned his best Kansas finish with a 13th-place run.
- On the Truck: Daly's No. 44 Chevrolet Silverado RST will race with support from Polkadot. Polkadot is a digital platform designed to build a more inclusive and transparent internet, where power and decision-making are in the hands of its users. Polkadot utilizes a public governance platform to empower its community of 1.3 million members to directly control all steps of the decision-making process, even when it comes to the largest global marketing initiatives.
- INDYCAR Season Recap: Daly made a total of seven starts in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES this season while driving for three different race teams. He posted three top-10 finishes, including a pair of 10th-place results in the Indianapolis 500 and the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway. In the first race of the series' double-header in Milwaukee, Daly secured a spot on the podium with a miraculous third-place run. The race marked his second-career podium and first on an oval.
- Quoting Daly: [92.9 WVJS Interview] Interviewer: I believe when you look at the schedule and you think 'what is the definition of a NASCAR track?', you can't get any better than Kansas Speedway's wide sweeping corners and high-speed racetrack. I think you're going to be in for a treat behind the wheel.
“I really hope so. I even enjoyed it when IndyCar raced at Kansas back in the day. I still wish IndyCar raced at Kansas. It’s a great track, I know Niece [Motorsports] has had success there in the past as well, and I’m very excited. I love learning new tracks, especially ovals, because I enjoy oval racing so much. I can’t be anything other than excited on what we’re going to do. You know, there’s not a lot of practice which is a bit of a shame as always, but we’re just going to have to go for it.”
- Quoting Efaw: What is a realistic goal for Conor to shoot for in his first start at Kansas?
“Honestly, I don’t want to put too much pressure on him this weekend. He’s ran a couple of races at Las Vegas for us in the past, so I think that experience should help bring him up-to-speed on this track with them both being a mile-and-a-half. I was impressed to see the speed he had at Indy earlier when he ran the Xfinity car, so I think he’ll be able to adapt quick which will help him both here and at Homestead in a few weeks.”
About Niece Motorsports: Niece Motorsports is owned by United States Marine Corps Veteran Al Niece. In 2024, Niece Motorsports enters its ninth season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Niece also owns Niece Equipment, which has for over 40 years provided clients with reliable products at competitive prices. Niece Equipment’s reputation is built on service, integrity and dependability. The company provides water and fuel/lube trucks that are engineered with quality and durability in mind for the construction and mining industry. Follow the team on Facebook and Instagram @NieceMotorsports as well as X @NieceMotorsport.
About Polkadot: Polkadot is the powerful, secure core of Web3, providing a shared foundation that unites some of the world's most transformative apps and blockchains. Polkadot is the first of its kind — modular, resilient, interoperable — but governed by its users, the biggest Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) in the world. It enables Web3’s biggest innovators to have one place and to get their ideas to market fast, with flexible start-up costs and an exceptionally flexible builder environment. Today, Polkadot attracts best-in-class teams building stand-out apps like Mythical, Frequency, Moonbeam, Astar, and more.
