Carlin Racing has confirmed Conor Daly will compete in the No.59 Gallagher-Chevrolet in four of the oval races during the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series.
The British team also confirmed Brazil’s Felipe Nasr will run in the No.31 entry for the season opening round in St.Petersburg, Florida.
With his road and street course deal with Ed Carpenter Racing, which includes the Indianapolis 500, Daly’s placement at Carlin now means the Indiana-born driver will compete in his first full season of racing since 2017.
Max Chilton had taken the decision to back out of oval competition in 2019, citing unsafe driving standards amongst his fellow competitors and concerns over safety. The British driver will however return to compete in the Indy 500.
Nasr will make his IndyCar debut this weekend as he links up with the team he won the British F3 championship with in 2011. The 27-year old tested for Carlin earlier this year during the rain-affected pre-season testing at the Circuit of The Americas.
Carlin has yet to confirm who will drive the No.31 for the remainder of the season, though Nasr could compete in some events, but does have a full-time IMSA commitment with the Whelan Engineering team.
“I’m very pleased to be joining Carlin for my first ever weekend in an IndyCar in St. Petersburg this weekend,” said Nasr.
“It’s nice to see that all the work we’ve put into this program together has finally paid off. I’m thankful for Trevor Carlin for giving me the opportunity to drive the No. 31 Carlin Chevrolet this weekend and to Chevy for supporting this program.
“I’m very keen to contribute to the team with my experience and my knowledge and to hopefully show that the speed we had at Sebring a few days ago will translate onto the streets of St. Petersburg.
“I know the team has been working really hard over the offseason and I’m very excited to get out on track first thing on Friday morning.”
Team Principal Trevor Carlin added, “We’re very much looking forward to getting the season underway this weekend in St Pete.
“Max had some very positive comments on the work we’d done over the winter and how the car felt in Sebring. Felipe has been a great asset so far with his setup work and feedback at COTA and in Sebring in particular.”
“Obviously, we won’t be able to see what progress we’ve made until everyone is on track this weekend in St Pete, but our goal remains to make progress with every race as we continue our IndyCar program.”
