Conor Daly To Drive in Indianapolis 500 for A.J. Foyt

WALLER, Texas April 2, 2013—As the son of a race driver, Conor Daly spent most of his life watching the Indianapolis 500 from the grandstands. This year the 21-year-old rising star will be seeing the race from the cockpit of an Indy car.

Daly has been hired to drive A.J. Foyt’s No. 41 ABC Supply Honda in this year’s Indianapolis 500, joining  Takuma Sato who pilots the No. 14 ABC Supply Honda in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Daly, who grew up in nearby Noblesville, Indiana, will be making his formal IndyCar debut in the 500 on May 26th although he did test the ABC Supply Indy car in December.

“I almost can't describe what it means to have the opportunity to race in the Indianapolis 500,” Daly said. “I have been to the 500 every year of my existence except for last year when I raced in Monaco. It is truly my home race since I was born and raised in the Indianapolis area.  I am so thankful that A.J. and Larry [Foyt] have given me my first shot at the greatest race in the world.  I know this will sound cheesy but I've never been happier in my life; this race means so much to me.”

Daly will participate in the Rookie Orientation Program (ROP) on Thursday, April 11th along with three other rookies: Tristan Vautier, Carlos Munoz, and A.J. Allmendinger, who has won Indy Car races while competing in Champ Car but has never raced in the Indy 500.

“I'm excited about bringing Conor to Indy for his first race at the 500,” Larry Foyt. “I've been watching him come up through the open wheel ranks, and when we met at the F-1 race in Austin, Texas last year, we hit it off immediately. Doing the test at Sebring confirmed he could make the step up to an Indycar, and with my dad's guidance, the potential is there for a great month of May.”

ABC Supply Extends Its Contract to Sponsor AJ Foyt Racing Through 2015

WALLER, Texas February 26, 2013—The second-longest running sponsorship in the IZOD IndyCar Series is about to run even longer! AJ Foyt Racing and ABC Supply Co. Inc. have extended their contract through the 2015 season. The extension will make 11 straight seasons of ABC Supply’s support for motorsports legend A.J. Foyt’s IndyCar racing team.

“We have had such great success with our sponsorship program so far it wasn’t a tough decision to keep it going,” said David Luck, president and chief executive officer of the company. “One of the core values of our company is to work hard and have fun, and sponsoring A.J.’s team and being a part of the Indycar Series has allowed us to entertain a large number of customers and associates across the country giving us an exciting  opportunity to do just that.”

“Being with A.J.’s team gives our guests an up close and personal experience that can’t be duplicated and we are really looking forward to seeing Takuma Sato behind the wheel of the ABC Supply car this year. Takuma joined us on our recent customer cruise and he was great with our guests. It’s going to be an exciting and fun year!” Luck concluded.

The Beloit, Wisconsin-based company has been an active supporter of the team and of the IndyCar Series since 2005. They have entertained over 40,000 guests at IndyCar races in the U.S. during the past eight years.

Testing Report: Barber Open Test

LEEDS, Ala. March 13, 2013—Takuma Sato and the ABC Supply team ended on a high note at the IZOD IndyCar Series Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park today.

Sato laid down his quickest lap of 122.208mph--the fifth quickest of the afternoon—in his final outing in the No. 14 ABC Supply Honda; in fact, it was his final lap before the checkered flag ended the session for the 25 cars on track.

“I think we made good progress and it was a productive day, however there is a lot to be done,” said Sato. “At one stage we tried many things which didn’t give us the results we were expecting so we honestly struggled a little bit. But we collected very valuable data and put it all together and improved the performance so that was good. We’ll go back to the shop, analyze all the data and hopefully find more speed.  Overall, it was a good test and the whole team did a good job.”

Will Power posted the quickest lap of 123.33mph in his Chevrolet-powered car. He was followed by James Hinchcliffe’s Chevrolet (122.878mph), and the Hondas of Justin Wilson (122.667mph) and Scott Dixon (122.327mph).

Testing Report: Sebring International Raceway

SEBRING, FL Feb 19, 2013—Takuma Sato got off to a good start in the no. 14 ABC Supply Honda as he was quickest among the 13 drivers who were testing at Sebring International Raceway today. The private test was Sato’s first time in A.J. Foyt’s car and his first time back in an Indy car since the final race of the season last September.

"It was nice to get back in the car after the winter break--it felt really good,” Sato said. “The team started with a setup they knew, and I needed to feel the difference from what I've experienced--which I did feel some differences. Then we moved on to the testing program and various setup changes. They weren't always positive but we learned from the negative changes too. It was a very solid morning. In the afternoon we were constantly learning. We did lots of miles today so the car was very reliable and we were able to get through most of our program.

“I'm happy that we did some good lap times at the end of the day but it is only testing,” Sato said. “Still it's encouraging and a nice boost for the ABC Supply team. Everyone worked well together so it was a good day."

Sato turned in a quick lap of 51.947 seconds to edge out fellow Honda-powered driver Scott Dixon, who clocked in at 52.017 seconds. Will Power was the quickest Chevy-powered driver (52.153) while Dario Franchitti’s Honda turned a 52.322 lap. Justin Wilson was fifth quickest (52.327) to give Honda four of the top five spots.