Conor Daly’s name is synonymous with speed. A legacy of agility and adrenaline courses through his veins, inherited from his father, the legendary Irish Formula One driver Derek Daly.
He’s also become part of the Polkadot family, so members of the community and staff from its developers, Parity Technologies, headed down to the 108th Indy 500 event on May 26 to watch him race. Daly surged from his 29th-place start out of 33 cars to the front of the pack and remarkably led for 22 laps.
Given that he was driving a pink Polkadot-branded DRR-Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet, he helped get the DOT brand out to a total TV audience of 13.3 million — and many more around the world — for around 10% of the 200-lap race.
To be fair, most would have asked, “What’s a Polkadot?” but it’s a start.
Daly finished in 10th place in Indianapolis and won the “biggest mover” trophy.
Connor Daly, Chrissy Hill and Matthew Hechemeyer at the Indy 500. (Supplied)
Chrissy Hill, interim COO for Parity Technologies, said it was an amazing race to watch.
“It was a momentous event, one that features on many people’s bucket lists, and I felt very privileged to be there as part of the team and the community,” says Hill.
“Conor is an exceptional individual, and we were immensely proud to be the sponsors, reaching an audience of 13 million people, not including the impact on social media,” she said.
Crypto and car racing: F1, Indy 500 and Supercars
During the last bull run, crypto became heavily involved in the world of motorsports. In 2021, crypto exchanges signed dozens of high-profile, multimillion-dollar sponsorship deals with almost every Formula One team. By the start of the 2022 season, there were 16 official crypto team sponsors, in addition to Crypto.com, which became the flagship sponsor of the races themselves.
However, the collapse of FTX and the bear market that followed saw much of…
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