In Indianapolis 500 history, the median age for race winners is 33 years. Tony Kanaan and Josef Newgarden won the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in their 12th starts.

Know someone who is just on the north side of those numbers? Conor Daly certainly does.

Daly (photo, top) is 34 and competing in the “500” for the 13th time this year. Fittingly, he believes this could be his best chance to become the eighth Hoosier-born driver to win this race.

An Open Test in April and three days of practice this week suggest the Noblesville native is squarely on the pace. His No. 23 DRR KINGSPAN ARCO Chevrolet fielded by Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has been one of this event’s early pacesetters, and he said his car is as comfortable in traffic as any he has driven on this 2.5-mile oval.

“I have never been able to cut through traffic like I’ve been able to in my whole career,” Daly said. “I've never been able to do what I've been able to do ever at this track … so, (this year) is different.”

Daly seems to be gaining Indy experience with each passing year. He has led 82 laps here in the event, which is 13 more laps than Newgarden, a two-time winner. In fact, Daly’s career total is more than 13 drivers who have won the “500,” and only 77 of the 804 drivers who have competed in the event’s history have led more laps than he has.

Conor Daly

Daly (photo, above) has finished in the top 10 in each of the past four Indy races, including an eighth-place finish last year. His best finish was sixth in 2022. He has led four of the past five races, highlighted by 40 laps led in 2021. Last year he led 13 laps.

It can be argued that Daly is in the prime of his career in terms of being a potential Indy winner. Bobby Unser, Tom Sneva and Dario Franchitti earned their first “500” win at Daly’s age. Danny Sullivan, Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud were a year older. Arie Luyendyk won for the first time at age 36. Will Power was 37. Kanaan was 38. Daly’s best might still be to come.

To make the car as strong as it can be, Daly has been measuring its progress this month against that of Alex Palou, and that’s a superb benchmark. Not only is Chip Ganassi Racing’s four-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion the reigning Indy winner, he is considered a co-favorite this year along with Newgarden. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward is another driver carrying good odds to win the 110th Running on Sunday, May 24 (10 a.m. ET, FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).

Daly appears to be climbing in the minds of Indy prognosticators.

“We're up there with Alex (Palou) every day,” he said of his lap times. “He's the past champion, so if he's doing it, I'll try to do what he's doing. Seems like that's a good thing to do.”

Daly’s Indy-only teammate is Jack Harvey, and Harvey has described Daly’s speed this week as “flying.”

“He has been (fast) every day, in all fairness,” Harvey said. “I've been teammates with Conor (twice), the first time was in 2013. So, I've known this guy a long time, and I know how good he is. Certainly, (he) is very talented and deserves to be racing more than one time a year. It's nice that he's showing it (this week).”

It’s worth noting that DRR was poised to win last year’s race when Ryan Hunter-Reay ran out of fuel a lap before his final pit stop. Hunter-Reay was leading the race and led 48 laps overall, a total second only to the 51 of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato.

Jack Harvey

This year’s DRR drivers have largely taken different approaches to this week’s practice sessions. Daly has focused on running in a pack as he simulates Race Day conditions, Harvey (photo, above) has sought clean track as much as possible in an effort to replicate qualifying conditions. The latter is why Harvey has regularly been at or near the top of the track’s no-tow report.

Daly, who had Wednesday’s fastest lap before focusing on single-car qualifying runs Thursday, said the team’s speed is real.

“I think we might have done 50 of our 89 laps above 226 (mph) so, like that's not bad,” he said of Wednesday’s running. “I look at my dash, and I see what we're doing. In 2018, I could never get above 220.

“There's a lot of things that can go so many different ways when you're here, and I'm just really thankful that these guys at this team have spent the time that they have over the offseason to make it easier.”

Could this be the year Daly breaks through and become Indiana’s first Indy winner since Wilbur Shaw in 1940? Maybe.

“We're just going to keep going through our list of things to do,” he said. “I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. We know that we're going to have some challenges. We know that when it gets hot, everyone's going to be angry and so we're waiting for those challenges, and hopefully when we get there, we'll have enough information to kind of go at it either way.

“I feel like I'm in a much happier place out there, and that's nice. Like, I know what I want. I'm trying to make myself uncomfortable because then I can find something else to work on. But I talked to my engineer and I'm like, ‘I'm trying to find something to complain about to you, and I just can’t find anything.’ That’s a good thing.”