Reigning series champions and three-time champions Alex Palou and Conor Daly will fly the NTT INDYCAR SERIES flag at the Indianapolis 8 Hours Sports Car Race presented by AWS on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course from Oct. 4-6.
Palou will compete for Lone Star Racing in the Intercontinental GT Challenge eight-hour endurance race on Saturday, October 5, driving the No. 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the IGTC Pro class alongside co-drivers Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz.
A versatile veteran, Daly will join BMW factory drivers Connor De Phillippi and Kenton Koch behind the wheel of the No. 92 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 and will continue the program he began this season with select starts in Fanatec GT World Challenge America events.
The Spaniard has made his mark on the sport's legend with three NTT IndyCar Series championship wins in the past four seasons and is set to drive prototypes at the Daytona 24 Hours in 2022 and 2024. But his experience in GT sports car racing is limited and he is looking forward to the challenge.
“I've raced GT races in Japan before, but it's been over five years,” Palou said. “I'm really excited to try it again.”
Palou has two NTT IndyCar Series wins on the IMS road course, in 2023 and this season, but he's excited to race at IMS at night. The eight-hour race around the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit will start at 12:15 p.m. ET and finish at 8:15 p.m. in darkness.
“I've done night stints at other races, but I've never done it at night on the speedway, so I think this will be very different,” Palou said. “Overall, I'm excited to be competing on such a big stage against so many talented drivers and teams. I'm really excited to be involved and can't wait to get in the car and see what it's like. Hopefully, we can join the fight and help the team come out on top.”
Daly is eager to compete in the 8-Hour this season after taking on a different role at the track last year.
“The funny thing is, I was a spotter at last year's event,” Daly said, “and got to watch a lot of the Pirelli GT4 races and the Indy 8 Hours, which was really fun. It's always a great honor and a huge privilege to go to IMS, and it's really exciting to be able to see this level of GT3 competition there.”
And the friendly rivalry between Palou and Daly over the event has already begun.
“It's a lot of fun having the chance to compete against other IndyCar drivers in this race,” Palou said. “In Nashville, Connor and I were actually badmouthing each other about this race.
“We're both really excited, but just as excited to be on the same level as the other great drivers on the grid and we'll do everything we can to get up to speed as quickly as possible.”
For tickets and more information about the Indianapolis 8 Hours Presented by AWS, visit IMS.com.
