Conor Daly chases the storm with Kyle Kirkwood ahead of IndyCar Iowa battle

As the IndyCar series heads to Iowa for the first doubleheader weekend of the 2025 season, Conor Daly and Kyle Kirkwood are bracing the storm. Both drivers opted to embark on an off-track adventure that perfectly sums up the drama that frequently surrounds the oval race: storm chasing.

In what can be dubbed a surprise detour away from the race track, Conor Daly and Kyle Kirkwood teamed up for a storm-chasing experience across the Midwest. The pair took time out on a scooter, tracking the severe weather conditions around the race track ahead of the commencement of the Grand Prix weekend.

Captured in a video shared on Instagram by the Andretti Autosport team, the duo stood on the weather-affected track as the sounds of engines roared in the background. Conor Daly subsequently reshared the post on his Instagram story, accompanying it with the caption:

“Just another day in the Midwest @kyle_kirkwood”

A still taken from Conor Daly Instagram stories on July 11, 2025. Image: @conordaly22 via Instagram

While the storm-chasing antics offered a moment of levity, both drivers will now turn their attention to the real business of the weekend—the IndyCar doubleheader. For Daly, the event represents another opportunity to put behind him a recent run of underwhelming results with the Juncos Hollinger outfit. Meanwhile, Kirkwood, 26, will be looking to close the gap to Alex Palou at the top of the 2025 IndyCar drivers’ championship.

Conor Daly slams Santino Ferrucci ahead of the Iowa Speedway race

Conor Daly hit out at Santino Ferrucci ahead of the Iowa Speedway weekend. The 33-year-old slammed the Connecticut native in reference to an incident during the previous Mid-Ohio Grand Prix.

During the Lexington race, both Daly and Ferrucci were involved in an on-track incident where the AJ Foyt Racing driver clattered into Daly and subsequently ran him off track. This incident would largely prove detrimental to both parties as they both slid down the pecking order at the Lexington race.

Conor Daly, who appears to bear a grudge from the incident, took to his Speed Street podcast to air his frustration with Ferrucci. Daly dubbed the 27-year-old a driver who appears not to care about his team or sponsors. He said:

“I don't know how, in your mind, you think, ‘All right, I'm actually gonna ruin my race and lose track position in the race that I am trying to compete in and earn points for my team, my sponsors.’ And I've said this before on this show—we’ve literally talked about the same thing—the lack of respect that Santino actually has for the effort that goes into this type of racing. To throw it away purely because he either doesn't care, or doesn't know what's going on, or doesn't like me,” added Daly. (23:21 onwards)

The spat between Conor Daly and Santino Ferrucci appears to be well documented, with their rivalry tracing back to the 2021 off-season when they were locked in a social media exchange. The pair also had a similar incident during testing ahead of the 2022 Indy 500 event.

With both drivers showing a pattern of qualifying close to each other during races, the possibility of them being involved in a close on-track battle in Iowa cannot be ruled out.

Edited by Sumeet Kavthale