Conor Daly is paying for the sins of his father.
Conor’s father, Derek Daly, on Thursday admitted he had used a racial slur in a live radio interview in the early 1980s. Conor Daly was born in 1991.
On Friday, Lilly Diabetes pulled its sponsorship decals from Conor Daly’s No. 6 NASCAR ride, saying that it didn’t want the distraction from their cause.
Lilly’s full statement, via NASCAR reporter Chris Knight: “Our sponsorship in Saturday’s race is intended to raise awareness of treatment options and resources for people living with diabetes. Unfortunately, the comments that surfaced this week by Derek Daly distract from this focus, so we have made the decision that Lilly Diabetes will no longer run the No. 6 at Road America this weekend.
“We remain committed to our mission of supporting people with diabetes.”
Dave Kallman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel broke the news Friday evening on Twitter. Tony Kanaan tweeted a response at 6:22 p.m. ” That is absurd.”
Conor Daly has been caught up in the weeklong controversy over longtime Colts radio announcer Bob Lamey and race analyst Derek Daly both admitting to uttering a racial slur, the n-word.
Lamey used the word at the Colts Training Camp last week; and retired after being confronted by the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
Derek Daly used the word more than 30 years ago in a live radio interview at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. WISH-TV reported late Wednesday that it had dismissed Daley as its freelance auto-racing analyst.
Lilly Diabetes had announced on May 11 that it would sponsor Connor Daly at the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Road America race, which is this weekend in Milwaukee. It will be Daly’s NASCAR debut.
Conor Daly has Type I diabetes, and at the time, Lilly Diabetes’ consumer brand sponsor Ashley Brewer said: “Currently, we are partnering with Conor … in the capacity to be a platform to educate and inspire fans with diabetes to take action to better manage their health.”
As part of the sponsorship, Daly was to be working with Lilly Diabetes on its Drive Down A1C initiative, which works to motivate fans with Type II diabetes to manage their health. Daly worked with Lilly Diabetes in 2016, but this was the first time they were sponsoring him.
It has been a tough year for Daly. After he competed in the reality TV show “The Amazing Race” with fellow driver Alexander Rossi — and had been eliminated — he learned that his place with A.J. Foyt Enterprises was also gone.
“When I got back from the show, the first call I made was to my manager,” Daly said. “The second call I made was to Larry (Foyt) and, well, yeah.”
Within 24 hours, Daly had been eliminated from “The Amazing Race” and lost the only job he’s ever wanted.
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