INDIANAPOLIS — Conor Daly and Ed Carpenter Racing mutually agreed to part ways on Wednesday morning. A day later, Ryan Hunter-Reay was announced as his replacement for next weekend’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race in Road America. How did we get here and why are some of the quotes stated the way that they are?

Before we get to today, we have to first rewind back to the 2020 and 2021 seasons for which Daly was tabbed as a part-time driver with Ed Carpenter Racing. His status was up in the air for 2022 as he was searching for funding.

During that uncertainty, ECR tested out Hunter-Reay that Fall and by all accounts, that test went really well.

Meanwhile, Daly found a lifeline in one of the most unlikeliest places – Las Vegas.

While out there for his 30th birthday, Daly ran into and met Todd Ault. That businessman has a company named BITNILE and he liked Daly. The two chatted and later partnered up to go racing.

Ault backed Daly with ECR for 2022. They teamed up again in 2023 and in fact, BITNILE stepped up their funding even more in backing all three cars at ECR this season.

“Yeah, Conor (Daly), the Vegas trip, that’s real,” said Ed Carpenter at the INDYCAR Media Day in Thermal this past winter. “There’s another player involved in that that has been instrumental in helping run the project and growing it.

“But really Todd (Ault), I think all major partners that work like this, at some level they share a passion for the sport. Todd’s wife is from Indiana. They had been attending the 500 as fans for a long time.

“He happened to be fans of all of us. Before we all met, he was actually in negotiations with another INDYCAR team. It kind of fell apart. We all met. It was pretty interesting, the whole process.

“Last year I think Todd always envisioned something looking like what we will look like in 2023. I think last year was a learning experience for everyone. Now we’re launching into a bigger project with BitNile.com, which is very exciting. I can’t wait for everyone to see all the things they’re doing and what it will grow into as the year goes on.

“But, yeah, there’s a lot of energy, a lot of passion. So long as everything is successful, hopefully it will be a long-lasting partnership.”

Seven races later, Daly is out, BITNILE is still there and Hunter-Reay is in. How?

“This is the most difficult decision I have made as a team owner because I respect Conor (Daly) and know what he means to INDYCAR and its fans,” Ed Carpenter said via a team release on Wednesday afternoon. “Our team has not been performing at the level we are capable of this year, and despite making technical changes and investments in the offseason, 2023 has been extremely challenging. 

“I have put a great deal of consideration into the current state of our team and realize it is my obligation to our employees, partners, and supporters to do whatever is necessary to elevate our team’s competitiveness. We sincerely wish Conor continued success and will cheer him on wherever he goes next.”

From what that sounds like, maybe they think that this is on Daly for not performing. They doubled down in the announcement for Hunter-Reay on Thursday.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan (Hunter-Reay) who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” stated Carpenter.

Hunter-Reay even admitted that he was shocked to receive a phone call acquiring his services.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed (Carpenter),” Hunter-Reay said. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. 

“Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.”

What struck me there was a number of things but the,”a committed partner in BITNILE.COM,” was one of them.

Ault, III, Executive Chairman of BitNile.com, Inc., stated in the same release, “It is great for BITNILE.COM to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”

Interesting wording all around. Also, the wording from all sides makes it seem like Daly is being tabbed as the scapegoat and Hunter-Reay comes in to save the day.

However, Daly felt on Media Day for the Indianapolis 500 a few weeks ago, that the gap between he and his teammate wasn’t all that far off.

“I mean, honestly, you don’t forget how to drive,” Daly said then. “I think Rinus (VeeKay) didn’t forget how to drive. He’s still race winner and pole sitter. He’s very, very talented at what he does and he’s struggled you know, just as much as we have. He’s done a little bit better in a couple places, but we’ve also had things you know, go very wrong and a couple different races this year.

“So I don’t think it’s, you know, if I was very, very much on an island and Rinus was in the top 10 in the championship, I’d be very upset with myself. It’s been a very difficult situation.”

Daly sits 20th in points after the first seven races. His teammate, Rinus VeeKay, sits 15th. Daly said the biggest issue with the team at that point was mechanical grip and that’s the department to where they were lacking the most.

What’s also odd is the fact that Daly has placed higher than VeeKay in 4 of the 7 races (St. Pete, Long Beach, Indianapolis 500, Detroit). VeeKay has qualified better than Daly in 6 of the 7 though, but Sunday’s pay points and money and Daly has been ahead more times than not in 2023.

Daly led the most laps in the 2021 Indy 500, was the top ECR finisher in the last two years’ Greatest Spectacle in Racing and has extracted the most of what he’s been given in that ride.

“Although we’ve mutually decided that it’s in our best interests to take different paths, I’d like to thank ECR for the past three and a half seasons,” said Daly. “I’m grateful to everyone who has supported me – past, present and into the future. I look forward to taking on the next opportunities that await, and I want to thank the fans for being with me on this ride.”

While I get bringing on Hunter-Reay for setup advice, what’s that say about VeeKay too? He’s in Year 4 and you’re bringing on outsider in for admitted help.

“We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test,” Carpenter said. “I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay hasn’t been with ECR in a year in-a-half. He hasn’t raced on a road course in nearly two years. It’s not like his feedback is going to come quickly.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well,” Hunter-Reay admitted. “It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead.

“The last time I turned right driving an NTT INDYCAR SERIES car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

If you’re going to make this change, like they did, Hunter-Reay is the right man to lead the charge. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based driver is an NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion (2012) with 18 career wins, including a victory in the 2014 Indianapolis 500. Hunter-Reay also has multiple overall IMSA sportscar wins, the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans among them, has been invited to the Race of Champions five times and has won two ESPY ‘Driver of the Year’ awards (2013 and 2014).

Most recently, he competed in the 2023 Indianapolis 500 with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, leading eight laps in the closing stages of the race and ultimately finishing 11th with a bad handling race car.

So, time will tell here what happens next. If the results don’t really change much, then we know it wasn’t all Daly. If the results do change but it comes from Hunter-Reay giving feedback on just how far off this car was, it further helps Daly’s case too.

And before fans go out and bash BITNILE, we don’t also know behind the scenes the entire situation. Yes, Daly brought them to ECR. However, they also have to have a signed deal with ECR to be a partner on these cars. They never said they were going to stop backing Daly for the future. They can’t just walk away with him from ECR in the middle of the season and risk breach of contract and have legal battles and the threat of being sued. No one is saying they can’t team up down the road again once this contract runs out either.