Derek Daly was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland to a middle class working family. He financed his first race car by working as a laborer in the iron ore mines of Australia. While traveling the race tracks of England, even took up residence in an old school bus.
He was the first driver from the Republic of Ireland to compete in Formula One and was ranked 10 th in the world in 1980. He made six starts in the Indianapolis 500 before winning the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race, twice, in 1990 and ‘91. In 1984, Derek was almost killed when he suffered one of the hardest crash impacts a driver had ever survived at the Michigan International Speedway. After fourteen surgeries and three years in therapy, he returned to full-time racing.
When he retired from the cockpit, Derek started a 24-year television broadcasting career with ESPN, NBC, CBS, and Fox Sports. USA Today called him; “the best new face on sports television”. IndyCar Racing magazine voted him “the most popular motor sports television announcer”.
Moet & Chandon awarded Derek the Joules Goux Award for his outstanding contributions to motor sports television. He was nominated by ESPN for an Ace Award, and was inducted into the 2000 Motorsports
Ireland Hall of Fame.
In 2010, he was inducted into the Sebring Hall of Fame. Derek literally wrote the book on motorsports success; Race To Win: How to Become a Complete Champion. He was honored to have Mario Andretti write the foreword. His second book, A Champions Path: Race Team Tactics for Business was published in 2017. He is currently a sought after keynote speaker with clients such as; Xerox, Pepsico, State Farm, Zurich and the US Government Department of defense.
Derek has three sons, Conor, Colin and Christian and resides in Indianapolis, and Phoenix. His son Conor finished sixth at the 2022 Indianapolis 500. His youngest son, Christian, is a four-time Jet Ski
World Champion. Derek became an American Citizen on September 28, 1993.
