INDIANAPOLIS -- Conor Daly's mom has a dream that comes back every so often. A wonderful dream. She is at the Indianapolis 500 watching the finishing laps, she is screaming then she is crying as her son crosses the finish line first.

In the dream, Beth Boles falls to the ground. People have to run over and pick her up. She can't believe it. Her son, who so desperately has wanted to win an Indy 500, finally has.

For Boles, there is no way to explain what it's like to be the mother of a racecar driver. A mother who watched Daly as a little boy with a newspaper, studying the starting grid, circling which driver he thought would win.

A mother who watched Daly climb into a go kart at 10. Who was screaming and crying into her handkerchief in pit lane at his first Indy 500 qualifying run. Who saw Daly put his head in his hands and cry when he qualified in 2017. Who said it was surreal when he recorded the fastest trap speed -- measuring the cars at their fastest -- in Indy 500 practice history this month, 243.724 mph.

Daly is close, so close to greatness, Boles said, and what the world doesn't see is the heart that aches and breaks each time he has a setback in this insane industry of racing.

Take last December, just days before Daly was set to celebrate his 30th birthday in Las Vegas, he came to his mom's house.

Fun at IMS: Prank wars begin at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Conor Daly is the first victim

"He can be a little on the Eeyore side with the rain cloud," said Boles, who is married to Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles. "He comes over with a look of gloom."

Daly told Boles he was out of money. "I have nothing. I'm not going to race next year."

Of course, Boles wanted to help. But Daly is 30 and she can't help anymore, not with money. But she can with a good pep talk.

"You’ve got talent. Something will come up," she told Daly. "As a mom, I have to let it go. That’s really painful because I want to control it. It is what it is, so I'm left with, 'You’ve got talent. Something will happen.'"

Two days later, Daly was in Vegas and met a guy named Todd Ault, executive chairman and founder of BitNile Holdings, Inc., a diversified holding company specializing in cryptocurrencies and innovations in the field of decentralized finance.

Within 72 hours, the deal had been made and it was announced in January. Daly would be the full-time driver of the No. 20 BitNile Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, a two-year deal.

Joining Ed Carpenter Racing: Conor Daly will be a full-time driver for Ed Carpenter Racing in IndyCar

Boles calls that night in Vegas her son's "Christmas miracle," a miracle she said no one deserves more.

"He has a great, great heart. He is too hard on himself," said Boles, who has three sons with Daly's father, Derek Daly, and another son with Doug Boles. "He's an amazing person. I know a lot of drivers work hard. There is nobody that has wanted it more."

'Wants to drink the milk'

The oldest of Boles' sons, Daly was sweet, a bit insecure, soft-hearted, a rule follower and did great in school. He loved books and Hot Wheels, Pokémon and Beanie Babies. "He was a dream child," Boles said.

Growing up, Daly had dreams of being a football or basketball star. He played football in sixth grade for a Zionsville club team. A lot of running was involved, Boles said, so that dream faded.

He played basketball a lot, going to Tom Abernathy's camps, he took up skateboarding, he tried water sports (Boles won a Novice Jet Ski World title in 1990). In the end, engines won out, said Daly.

The family had four-wheelers and dirt bikes. When Daly was 10, he started racing go karts. In 2005, at 13, he won 19 races, two championships and was Junior Driver of the Year.

"That's kind of when everything really kicked off," Daly said.

By the time he was 16, Daly was concentrating on race cars. He won the Skip Barber National Championship (five wins) and the Ontario Formula Ford 1600 Rookie of Year (five wins).

During his European debut, representing Team USA, Daly won the prestigious Walter Hayes Formula Ford 1600 Trophy in Silverstone, England. Along the way, he set three lap records in Canada and scored 10 pole positions in three different classes.

From there, Daly swept the Formula Star Mazda championship with seven wins (record), nine pole positions (record) and twelve podium finishes (record), most laps led (record) and largest winning points margin in the 23-year history of circuit.

He competed in the European Formula One support series, GP3, scoring two wins, one pole position and 11 podiums. In 2013, at the age of 21, he made a GP2 debut in Malaysia where he finished 7th, recording the second fastest race lap.

That same year, he made his Indy 500 debut driving for A.J. Foyt. He finished 22nd and his love of IMS and desire to conquer the track was born.

Daly's best finish in the IndyCar Series is second place at Detroit in 2016. He finished fifth in the GMR Grand Prix, the lead-up to this year's Indy 500. In eight starts at the Indy 500, his best finish is 10th.

"There's a lot for sure in my life I still want to do. That's why I'm here," Daly said as he sat in the grandstands of IMS above the Gasoline Alley suites Tuesday. "Everyone who hasn't drank the milk at Indy wants to drink the milk."

'I know he'll never have regrets'

Daly is from Noblesville. His dad, Derek, competed in Formula One and in six Indy 500s in the 1980s. Add that to a stepfather who is president of IMS and a former team owner, Daly said he tries not to feel pressure.

"There is obviously a lot that comes with having a dad who used to race and having family that has been so involved with this track," Daly said. "But honestly, I just see that as perks. It's a great family to be a part of."

If he overthinks things, Daly said, it damages the outcome.

"For me, it's about staying focused on what I do and this is my dream, being a racecar driver," he said. "And the goal is to obviously be the best one out there and if I'm doing that then there's no pressure because you're just doing your job."

Daly said he is honored to be among the drivers in this year's field.

"For him to race with Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves? That is who he watched when he was a little boy," said Boles. "He was their fan and now he's driving with them."

When Daly recorded the fastest trap speed at an Indy 500 practice (since IMS began recording it in 2009) on Friday entering Turn 3, it was mind-blowing, he said.

"This year has been truly outstanding because we are going faster than any other human on the planet on a racetrack," he said. "So it's something that I truly think deserves way more attention than it's gotten."

Daly said he's not sure why what's happening at IMS this month is not on SportsCenter every day.

"Because this is 243 miles ... 240-plus is an insane amount of speed and it feels like it too," he said. "How fast we're going, it creates the most amount of adrenaline you could ever think of. I love that feeling. It's like a drug for me."

For Boles, it is surreal to see her son going so fast.

"And as a Christian, I have to give it all to the faith," she said. "God gave him talent. I have to let him use it. And God’s in control."

The song Boles most connects with, when it comes to her son's racing is "Jesus Take the Wheel," by Carrie Underwood. She knows every time she hugs him before he gets behind the wheel of the car...

"It could be the last time I see him," Boles said. "But I know where he is going to be in the end. You have to have that eternal hope."

What gives Boles the most comfort as she watches and worries about Daly is that he is doing what makes him happiest.

"I know he’ll never have regrets," she said. "I love the sport. I've always loved racing and I know how much he loves it and how much he wants to do it."

Daly talked Tuesday about how close he came last year. He was in the best position of his eight starts at the Indy 500 until, on Lap 118, Graham Rahal came out of the pits, with a loose tire. It bounced onto the track.

Daly tried to avoid contact and thought he was safe until the tire came straight at him.

'A flying tire ruins a race': Conor Daly feels like Indy 500 was his until bad luck

“This giant tire just flew out of the sky,” Daly said moments after finishing the 2021 race in 13th. “I had no idea.” Daly said if not for the incident, he had a strong chance at victory.

"Last year, being so close to winning, I think now we don't want to leave here without the win," Daly said of this year's race. "But even just having a shot at it at the end, if you're in the top five and if you're fighting for the win, if you're in the top three, that's all you can ask for. That's our goal as a team is to be up at the front and have a shot at winning."

And maybe, just maybe, making his mom's dream come true.

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy 500: Conor Daly, soft-hearted, fiercely focused, wants win at IMS