Derek lives in the United States, now based in Indiana and Arizona, and worked in media and TV work for many years. He also had a racing school at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He is a businessman, speaker and driver coach, as well as running a professional services company. His son, Conor, also races, and Derek helps him as much as possible. Derek started racing in a rather unorthodox way, beginning in destruction derbies in Ireland in the 1960's, before moving into Formula Ford some years later after a spell of working in an iron ore mine in Australia to gain funds. He won the 1976 Formula Ford Festival and the 1977 British Formula 3 title. He was lucky to survive both a massive crash at Zandvoort in Formula 1, and an Indycar crash at Michigan.Daly retired from racing in 1992 after winning two Sebring 12 Hour races in a row in 1990 and 1991, but remained in some driving capacity for many years after, including track tests. More recently he builds or rebuilds houses and gardens. He released his autobiography in 2026.

Biography last updated 7 Jun 2026