Daly, who was fired from his Ed Carpenter Racing ride ahead of the most-recent Road America round, will return to the series at the wheel of MSR's Honda-powered AutoNation/SiriusXM spare car.
IndyCar medics didn’t sign off Pagenaud to contest qualifying, and a follow-up test did not provide the suitable clearance for the 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner to race today either.
Daly was present on site in Mid-Ohio this weekend, having raced in Travis Pastrana’s Nitrocross series over the Road America weekend, although he needed his mother to drive from Indianapolis with his seat and racing gear.
This will be Daly’s eighth IndyCar start at Mid-Ohio, with a best finish of sixth in his rookie season in 2016 that included a run to the front of the field, leading 22 laps and moving up 16 positions.
“Obviously I have to think about Simon, you hate to see someone wreck like that,” said Daly. “The most important thing is to get him as healthy as possible, as soon as possible.
“This is his car and his group of folks and I am here to do the best job that I can for this team. I’ve known Mike [Shank] for a long time and I’ve tested for his sports car team many years ago.
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for this organisation. It’s an honour to be a part of this group and fill in – we will just do the best job that we can.”
Source: Autosport