By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
It was an anticipated NASCAR Xfinity Series debut for Conor Daly and Lilly Diabetes at Road America this weekend.
Since May, Lilly Diabetes was scheduled to be on the No. 6 Xfinity entry for Roush-Fenway Racing with Daly in an effort to raise awareness. However, when the car pulled onto the track for two practice sessions on Friday afternoon, the familiar red and white Lilly Diabetes scheme was not on the car.
The sponosrship from Lilly was pulled after Derek Daly, Conor’s father, was fired from his position at WISH-TV in Indianapolis after news surfaced that he used a racial slur nearly 35 years ago.
Lilly Diabetes released the following statement regarding the issue:
“Our sponsorship in Saturday’s race is intended to raise awareness of treatment options and resources for people living with diabetes. Unfortunately, the comments that surfaced this week by Derek Daly distract from this focus, so we have made the decision that Lilly Diabetes will no longer run the No. 6 at Road America this weekend.
“We remain committed to our mission of supporting people with diabetes.”
Lilly Diabetes continued their sponsorship on the No. 16 entry driven by Ryan Reed, and moved sponsorship over to the No. 60 entry driven by Ty Majeski.