SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH) — A pink car with Polkadot as a sponsor will definitely make a strong visual impression in this year’s Indianapolis 500 field, but the man at the wheel is only interested in how it looks on Victory Lane.

“I think this race can obviously be won from anywhere. We’ve seen it multiple times,” said Conor Daly, a Noblesville native and longtime fan favorite. He’s set to start the race in the center of Row 10.

To drive home the point about starting position, Daly references last year’s 500 champion, who qualified 17th. “Where did Josef Newgarden start last year? Right? Dead center in the field. And everyone is like, ‘Maybe it’s only the guys in the front two rows that can win…’, and that’s just straight up wrong.”

Daly has raced in the 500 for 10 straight years, but it has been two years since he had a season-long ride in the series. He is driving for Dreyer & Reinbold/Cusick Motorsports this month in a one-off effort.

During an appearance on WISH-TV’s Daybreak on Thursday, Daly said he hopes a strong finish could lead to more races. “Hopefully with Polkadot, we can do this for many more years ahead, and I would love to be full-time in IndyCar again,” he said.

Daly is the main focus of the upcoming episode of “100 Days to Indy” on WISH-TV. During the show, others imply that Daly may be running out of chances to win. We asked him if that was a real concern, and his answer was telling:

“To be brutally honest, because I don’t like to paint any false pictures, yeah. You never know how many more chances you’ve got at it.”

Daly says he is enjoying the reality show as a racer and as a fan and that it offers important exposure for the sport.

“I think it’s been great, honestly. I think that there’s always more going on than what people know about,” he told us. Daly also revealed that unlike other shows you see on TV, the ‘stars’ of this one don’t know what’s coming until the episode airs.

“I will be a first-time viewer myself of the show. I haven’t gotten to see it early. I’ve watched the season so far, and I like what they’ve done. I think with the Penske drama, that creates a great television show.”

“100 Days to Indy” airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. in the weeks leading up to the 500. There are two episodes left, as of Thursday. The penultimate episode, May 24, features Daly’s drive to keep his career going and Scott Dixon’s effort to define his own.

The series finale airs a week later, looking back at the race and its victor.