Andretti won’t rule out running Conor Daly at more races in 2019

Will the US Air Force step up to sponsor Daly in more races?

Andretti Autosport team owner Michael Andretti has refused to rule out running Conor Daly at more events in the 2019 NTT IndyCar season beyond the Indianapolis 500.

It was announced last week Daly would run as a fifth car in the All-American Andretti Autosport line-up for his sixth attempt at the famous race.

The 56-year-old team owner believes the chances of keeping hold of Daly are possible, but it would depend on finding the necessary sponsorship.

"I think we've already talked about it, working on a few things," said Andretti.

"I think it's a real possibility. We'd love to still keep him in the family not just for the one race. Hopefully, we can work something out.

"It comes down to sponsorship obviously. But we are working on a few different things. We'll see.

Andretti was also asked if Daly could run at the IndyCar Grand Prix prior to the Indy 500, but the team owner ruled this out.

The 1991 CART Champion cited the lead time it would take converting the Dallara DW12 chassis from road course to speedway configuration, which could potentially hurt Daly's preparation efforts for the prestigious race.

"We weren't planning on that. To do that is a little difficult," added Andretti.

"We want to make sure that the Speedway car he'll be driving will be getting all the tender loving care that it needs because the superspeedway cars take a lot more preparation.

"For us to have to convert the car from a road course car to an oval car I think would probably hurt the effort. At the moment, we have no plan to do that."