Air Force drops sponsorship of No. 20 ECR IndyCar

The Air Force will not move forward as sponsor of the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy shared by its team owner and Conor Daly, who brought the military branch to ECR after stops at Dale Coyne Racing and Andretti Autosport with Air Force funding.

“They are entirely out of IndyCar,” Daly told RACER. “We actually got this decision a little while ago.”

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Despite the setback, Daly and ECR continue to discuss their post-Air Force options.

“Ed and I spoke today about that, and I have other sponsors, other funding, that I’ve been developing in case the Air Force pulled out,” Daly said. “So what does the future look like for me right now? Too early to tell, but I am super thankful to have had the Air Force with me for all these years, and to have represented them to the best of my ability. But these things change every day in racing, so I was never going to bank on one sponsor being make or break for me.”

Daly has other options in racing, but doesn’t want to abandon his lifelong dream to become an IndyCar and Indy 500 race winner.

“We have some partners who are working with me to try and hit that same sponsorship number with ECR, but Ed’s been transparent about how he’s looking at some other guys, and who knows, if they bring more than I can, that’s up to him,” he said of holding onto the road and street course seat that turns into ECR’s third entry at the Indy 500.

“There’s a lot that’s still up in the air. I also have an opportunity to go full-time NASCAR Truck racing and do the Indy 500. My number one priority is staying with Ed if I can, but there’s also a Plan B.”