Derek Patrick Daly (born 11 March 1953) is an Irish former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

, businessman and broadcaster, who competed in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

from to . Born and raised in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Daly won the British Formula Three Championship in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, before participating in 64

Formula One Grands Prix Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing series managed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name alludes to a series of FIA ...

, debuting at the

1978 United States Grand Prix West The 1978 United States Grand Prix West (officially the Long Beach Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on April 2, 1978, at Long Beach, California. Summary Carlos Reutemann took over at the halfway mark from Ferrari teammate Gilles Vil ...

. His 15 championship points made him the first Irish driver to score in Formula One, and remains the highest scoring; he also participated in several non-championship races. After Formula One, Daly moved to the United States to compete in

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

and

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

, where he led

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

to the IMSA GTP Championship in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Racing career

After honing his skills in the Irish Formula Ford Championship, Daly had his first drive in the

European Formula Two Championship The European Formula Two Championship was a Formula Two motor racing series that was held between 1967–84. The races were held across Europe, and were contested both by drivers aiming to compete in Formula One in the future as well as curr ...

. In 1978 and 1979, he competed in both

Formula Two Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...

and

, finishing third in the Formula Two championship in both seasons. From 1980 to 1982, he focussed on Formula One, his best year being 1980, when he scored two fourth-place finishes and finished 11th in the Drivers' Championship. His two most memorable moments in F1 both came in the

Monaco Grand Prix The Monaco Grand Prix () is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the wo ...

. In

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

he crashed spectacularly at the first corner after vaulting three other cars. In

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

he suddenly found himself in contention for the win when the four cars ahead of him ran into problems with under two laps to go, but ended up on the sidelines himself when his gearbox seized moments later. In 1982, Daly began driving in the

series and continued through 1989. He started 66 CART races, including each

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

from 1983 to 1989, except for 1986. He finished in the top ten a total of 21 times, including one podium finish, 3rd position, at Milwaukee in 1987. In September 1984 he was nearly killed in a crash in the CART PPG Detroit News Grand Prix 200 at

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (formerly named as the Michigan Speedway from 1997 to 2000) is a D-shaped oval superspeedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. It has hosted various major auto racing series throughout its existence, including NASCAR, Cham ...

. The front end of his car was sheared off and he suffered multiple injuries including a crushed left ankle, double compound fracture to the left tibia and fibula, fractured left hip socket, severely fractured pelvis, several broken left side ribs, broken left hand, 3rd degree burns to the left arm, dislocated right foot and ankle, deep abrasions and soft tissue to right heel, and internal bleeding. Daly won the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...

in 1990 and 1991 driving a Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo. In 1990, he had the unusual distinction of driving both the first and second-placed cars.

Broadcast and business career

Daly is known in motor sports circles around the world as a driver, writer, broadcaster, racing advisor, and businessman. He runs a

professional services Professional services are occupations in the service sector requiring special training in liberal arts and pure sciences education or professional development education. Some professional services, such as architects, accountants, engineers, d ...

company called MotorVation, and had been a commentator for American broadcasts of the

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...

series, as well as a public speaker. One of the agencies that represents him is the

National Speakers Bureau National Speakers Bureau is an Illinois-based speakers bureau. The firm, founded in 1972 by John Palmer, is currently led by Brian Palmer, who assumed the presidency in 1996. History After working as a band leader for twenty years, John Palmer ...

. In 2018, Daly was fired from a racing analyst position he had at

WISH-TV WISH-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Marion-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23) and low-power, ...

when WISH-TV attributed a racial slur that was uttered by

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

announcer Bob Lamey in 1983 to him. While not disputing saying the slur, Daly contends that he did not use the offending language in the context Lamey alleged (Lamey claimed that Daly had once stated "... there aren't any (racial slur) in this race"), but instead used the word as part of a common Irish colloquialism during a 1983 radio interview. Daly filed a $25M lawsuit as a result. Later that year, U.S. district court judge Richard L. Young ruled in favor of WISH-TV and the station's former parent company,

Nexstar Media Group Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarters in Irving, Texas, Midtown Manhattan, and Chicago. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 television station ...

, in all claims in Daly's lawsuit and ordered him to pay Nexstar's legal costs.

Personal life

Daly became a US citizen on September 28, 1993, and he now resides in

Carmel, Indiana Carmel () is a suburban city in Hamilton County, Indiana, United States, immediately north of Indianapolis. With a population of 99,757 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city spans across Clay Township, Hamilton County, Indi ...

. He has three sons,

Conor Conor is a male given name of Irish origin. The meaning of the name is "Lover of Wolves" or "Lover of Hounds". '' Conchobhar/Conchubhar'' or from the name ''Conaire'', found in Irish legend as the name of the high king Conaire Mór and other her ...

, Colin and Christian. Conor Daly is also a racing driver. He made his debut in full-time open-wheel racing in 2012, driving for the Lotus GP team in GP3, before moving GP2 in 2014 driving for Venezuela GP Lazarus. Conor made his

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

debut in 2013 and was a full-time driver from 2016 to 2023. He also competed in the

2023 Daytona 500 The 2023 Daytona 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race and the 65th running of the Daytona 500, event. It was held on Sunday, February 19, 2023, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the first race of the 2023 NASCAR C ...

, finishing 29th. Daly's niece, Nicola Daly, is an Ireland women's field hockey international and was a member of the squad that won the silver medal at the

2018 Women's Hockey World Cup The 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 14th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup, a field hockey tournament. It was held from 21 July to 5 August 2018 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London, England. Defending champions ...

. She also works as a data engineer for

Juncos Racing Juncos Hollinger Racing (, ), formerly Juncos Racing, is an Argentine-American racing team competing in the IndyCar Series. Owned by Ricardo Juncos, who formed the team in 1997, the team was initially based in Argentina before limited racing opp ...

Racing record

Career summary

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

CART results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

*
Derek Daly Designs (course design business)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, Derek 1953 births British Formula Three Championship drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Champ Car drivers Irish racing drivers Irish Formula One drivers Hesketh Formula One drivers Ensign Formula One drivers Tyrrell Formula One drivers March Formula One drivers Theodore Formula One drivers Williams Formula One drivers European Formula Two Championship drivers Living people Motorsport announcers Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States Motorsport people from County Dublin Television anchors from Indianapolis Formula Ford drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers People educated at Ardscoil Rís, Limerick Derek Nismo drivers BMW M drivers Jaguar Racing drivers