MOORESVILLE, N.C. — With the emergence of Christian Lundgaard and the revival of Graham Rahal, Jack Harvey has struggled in his two seasons at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
With some big-name drivers expected to be available at the end of this season, it has long since been presumed there would be a different driver in the No. 30 Honda at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
On Tuesday, the team took the expected step and released Harvey.
Conor Daly will replace Harvey as the driver of the team’s No. 30 Honda in the August 27 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway (Ill.) at Gateway.
The driver for the final two races of the season at Portland International Raceway and WeatherTech Raceway (Calif.) at Laguna Seca will be announced later.
“First, I would like to thank Jack Harvey for all of his efforts on behalf of RLL for the last year and a half,” team co-owner Bobby Rahal said. “He committed fully to the team but for whatever reason, we weren’t able to achieve the results that he or the team deserves and we wish him well in the future.
“We will use the final three races of the season to gauge other racing talent. I’m very pleased that Conor has agreed to join us in St. Louis. He’s been strong there and I feel that he can bring value to the team while also providing us with a strong effort. I look forward to having him with us.”
Daly has made 107 NTT IndyCar Series starts since his debut in 2013 and earned his first series pole at the Iowa Speedway short oval in 2020 for Race One. He has competed in six of the last seven IndyCar Series races held at WWTR and has earned four top-10 finishes with his best being fifth in 2017.
“It means a lot to have a chance to drive for the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team,” Daly said. “I’ve known Bobby ever since I was a child, our families are very close. Mike Lanigan is someone that has known my dad for a long time, and I’ve known him well too. And David Letterman is a friend of our family as well so it’s very special to have the chance to drive for this organization.
“I will obviously do the best job that I can for them to make them proud and make their partners proud and I hope to be able to deliver everything they are looking for. I’m excited for the chance to get back behind the wheel at one of my favorite tracks at World Wide Technology Raceway.”