Simon Pagenaud will miss a third consecutive race weekend as he still recovers at home due to a head injury suffered in a practice crash on July 1 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

My thoughts are the same as they were last week on this in the fact that I don’t think they need to rush Pagenaud back, nor was this ever going to be a good race weekend for him to return anyways. I made mention of that last week when they announced that Tom Blomqvist would hop into the No. 60 Dallara-Honda for the Honda Indy Toronto.

I said then and I maintain that now that Iowa isn’t a good spot to make a comeback at.

Iowa is a dizzying experience in and of itself with a bullring type venue. With 2 races in 2 days in the warm conditions that they’re going to be facing, that’s asking a lot to come back there from a likely head injury that he’s suffering from right now.

So, for a driver like Pagenaud that’s by all accounts progressing, but still feeling the effects of that crash some, racing at Iowa makes little to no sense. Why not buy another weekend off, plus a week off next week too before being reevaluated for Nashville.

That would get him essentially four weekend’s off which by that point, will be a huge tale if he can comeback or not.

Which is why I also side with the decisions that MSR is making to sub for Pagenaud.

Daly was on site at Mid-Ohio and it made the upmost sense. Having Blomqvist in a tryout role last weekend made a ton of sense too. But, to bring Daly back over Blomqvist is too a wise move.

Daly was in Toronto to help so he’s basically been with this team for the last two races weekend’s. This is also a good opportunity for both Daly and MSR to test each other out to see if there’s any potential for him in 2024 with this ride.

It’s no secret that both Helio Castroneves and Pagenaud are each free agents for 2024. I’ve heard the team could keep 1 or neither but it doesn’t appear that both will return.

Blomqvist was always on the short list. Daly could emerge as a primary candidate too.

Which is why it makes sense for Iowa. This is a strong track for Daly.

He’s had seven race starts at the 0.875-mile tri-oval and a bundle of recent success. Iowa Speedway was the site of Daly’s first-ever INDYCAR SERIES pole position in 2020 as one of his three career top-three qualifying results, with the American racer earning his best race finish of eighth in 2020.

“I’m thankful to Mike and Jim to calling me up to fill in for Simon again this weekend in Iowa,” said Daly. “Obviously I’m wishing him the best and hope that he gets well soon.

“Iowa has definitely become one of my favorite tracks in the last couple of years. Obviously I have qualified really well there – qualified on the pole and started in the top three the last two years. Hopefully we can replicate that qualifying performance, but also deliver in the race. The team does an incredible job to prepare the car, so we’re going to do our best for Simon again. We’ll do everything we can to score some more points for the team and I’m thankful to drive this No. 60 car again for AutoNation and SiriusXm.

The scoring points for the team is also the final factor here. Daly is arguably the top sub you can get for this track and points is something this entry needs.

They need to get into the Top 22 in entrant points for that ever so crucial Leaders Circle bonus program. Right now, the 60 car is in 24th, 10 points behind.

With two races at stake this weekend, trying out Blomqvist on his first oval experience made little to no sense. Even if they have and eye for him in 2024, this isn’t a time to experiment. Toronto was. Not Iowa.

If Daly can come in and contribute some top 15 results, maybe even a top 10, that would do wonders for the entrant points standings which is why this was a home run hire.

Plus, MSR works closely with Andretti Autosport and it’s no secret Daly has ties to the family and team. This move makes a ton of sense in a lot of ways.