Indy's sports stars try burgers named after them at Ford's Garage: 'No onions? It's a 9.6'

NOBLESVILLE -- The last thing IndyCar driver Conor Daly ever thought he would be named after was a juicy half pound burger topped with an egg that is sunny side up. But one night, not too long ago, his dad texted him a picture from Ford's Garage in Noblesville. (To be clear, Ford's Garage is a restaurant and not an actual garage.)

Right there on the menu was a burger called Model "A," named in honor of Daly, a half-pound Black Angus patty with sharp cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon, Pico de Gallo, arugula, chopped Romaine, tomato, red onion and a sunny side up egg on a brioche bun.

Daly laughed when he saw his dad's text. He felt a bit humbled to have a burger named after him, and he thought that burger looked pretty good, but he never actually went to Ford's Garage to try out his own Black Angus concoction.

Daly tries to eat "pretty healthy," he said. A few years ago, he was even a vegetarian. These days, he occasionally eats meat, but burgers aren't usually part of his diet unless he is racing at Texas Motor Speedway where he always goes to the nearby In-N-Out Burger for takeout as he leaves.

But when IndyStar learned about the Burgers of Fame menu at Ford's Garage, named in honor of six Indy sports stars, we wanted to know what those stars, including Daly, thought about their burgers.

Daly obliged and showed up last month to the restaurant at Hamilton Town Center in Noblesville, where he grew up. He brought along his friend Deepu Sondhe and they both ordered the Model "A" burger. Daly asked for his to be prepared medium with a side of fries and water to drink. Sondhe went for medium rare, fries and iced tea.

Both ordered the burger as is, without any changes. "It all sounds really good," said Daly, 31. "It's very unhealthy. It's usually not what I eat, but I'm very hungry."

As Daly sat waiting in anticipation for his Model "A" to be served, he perused the menu, and he saw his name alongside some pretty famous people. On the Burgers of Fame roster at Ford's Garage is Peyton Manning's Estate Burger, the late John Andretti's Ford's Signature, the High-Octane, named after A.J. Foyt, and John Michael Vincent's Jiffy Burger.

There is also the Mushroom Swiss burger in honor of Gary Harris, a former Hamilton Southeastern basketball star who now plays for the Orlando Magic. It includes the half-pound Angus patty, Swiss cheese, sautéed mushrooms, chopped Romaine, tomato and red onion on a pretzel bun.

Harris was busy with the NBA season, so he couldn't get to Ford's Garage to try out the Mushroom Swiss. But IndyStar asked him to take a look at the ingredients and tell us what he thought.

"If I could make any changes," Harris said, "it would be to remove the mushrooms and add jalapeños." Which would mean the name of Harris' Mushroom Swiss burger would have to be updated to the Jalapeño Swiss burger.

Jeff Troyer, Ford's Garage general manager (or his official title, Garage Partner) didn't take offense to that at all. In fact, he isn't so sure Harris doesn't have a culinary career in his future after the NBA.

"Harris, he might be onto something," Troyer said. "If you sautéed the jalapeños, almost like an onion, they would get a little crispy and bring out some of the sugar, so they would not be as hot. That could be a really good burger."

As Troyer said those words, Daly's Model "A" burger arrived. And IndyStar waited in anticipation to see what he thought of it.

'The Conor Daly, does it pull numbers or what?'

Before he took a bite, Daly immediately removed the red onions. "I'm just not an onion guy, but everything else is good," he said. "I love a little pico, a little salsa on there, and the eggs are great."

As he dug into the burger, the sunny side up egg oozed out. "Oh, this is very good," Daly said. "We need extra napkins."

It didn't take long for Daly to finish his burger, which led IndyStar to encourage Troyer to cover his ears as we asked Daly to rate the Model "A" on a scale of 1 to 10.

"I mean, that's a very good burger," he said. "I rated a New York bagel breakfast sandwich the other day a 9.7." Daly was in New York for Alexander Rossi's wedding.

Daly said he is a huge breakfast fan. He loves eggs and bacon, which put his Model "A" burger, featuring both, with a high score.

Factoring in the fries, which Daly said were incredible, and taking the onions off the sandwich, Daly rated his burger a 9.6, which prompted him to ask Troyer if other people loved his burger as much as he did. "Does the Conor Daly pull numbers or what?"

Troyer said the Model "A" is one of the restaurant's three most popular burgers. "But Peyton Manning's Estate Burger is way up there," he said, to which Daly replied, "Of course."

"I don't think it's the best burger because it's Peyton's burger," Troyer said. "The Estate Burger to me, no offense to you, is the best flavored, full burger there is on the menu."

Manning's burger comes with smoked gouda cheese, sweet red onion marmalade, arugula, tomato, crispy onion straws and white truffle bacon aioli on a brioche bun.

IndyStar reached out to Manning to see what he thought of his burger on the menu at Ford's Garage and if he thought it would pair well with his Sweetens Cove bourbon, but did not hear back.

That was OK. There was another local sports celebrity ready to indulge us as he tried out his burger for the first time.

'I do enjoy peanut butter'

John Michael Vincent, better known as afternoon sports radio host JMV on 93.5 and 107.5 The Fan, has eaten at Ford's Garage plenty of times. The restaurant caters his backyard summer shows, so he has eaten most of the items on the menu, including his favorite, the buffalo chicken dip.

More: JMV, a country boy with a crazy dream, became Indy's sports radio star

But JMV had never tried the Jiffy Burger, named in his honor, the half-pound Angus patty with American cheese, applewood smoked bacon, chopped romaine and creamy peanut butter on a brioche bun. Not until IndyStar asked him to.

JMV came to Ford's Garage to taste his burger for the first time last month. As he looked at the menu with the Burgers of Fame on the front page, he joked, "Right there up front, you see all the stars -- A.J. Foyt, me, Peyton Manning."

To start his meal, JMV ordered a sweet tea with a tower of onion rings and then a Mustang Bloody Mary, which came with a slice of bacon, pickle spear, lime wedge, a bleu cheese olive and a Lagunitas IPA chaser.

"So, are you going to order your own burger?" server T'Shayla Jones asked JMV, after he had eaten a few onion rings and sipped his Bloody Mary. Of course, he was. When Jones learned it would be JMV's first time eating his own sandwich, she assured him that people love his Jiffy Burger.

"It's very popular," she said. "People like to order the burger without the lettuce and add jalapeños and grape jelly." JMV stuck with the original version, and as he tasted his burger for the first time, he was pleasantly surprised.

"I do enjoy the peanut butter. Originally, I would have never had any burger with peanut butter on it until here," he said. "To me, peanut butter goes with chocolate. I would have never thought about it on a burger until they introduced it to me."

Troyer told JMV that Elvis Presley was the first to put peanut butter on a burger. He put peanut butter on everything.

"If it's good enough for Elvis," JMV joked, "it's good enough for me."

Troyer said he loves seeing the enjoyment that comes from patrons at his restaurant who get a kick out of ordering from the Burgers of Fame menu. And he loves when, every now and then, a celebrity comes in and orders their own burger.

"We are trying to celebrate the people in our community who have made a difference," Troyer said. "It might be a sports hero or a community hero. We want to honor them."

Other local celebrity Burgers of Fame

Four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt's High-Octane: Pepperjack cheese, guacamole, chipotle ketchup, chopped romaine, tomato, red onion, and fresh jalapeño peppers on a brioche bun.

Noblesville High School teacher and hero Jason Seaman's Bison Bacon: Sharp cheddar, bacon jam, bourbon BBQ sauce, arugula, onion ring and chipotle aioli on a brioche bun.

Same As U founder and executive director Jennifer Sell's American Standard: American cheese, chopped Romaine, tomato, red onion and pickle planks on a brioche bun.

Noblesville mayor Chris Jensen's Black-N-Bleu burger: Blackened seasoning, crumbled bleu cheese, applewood smoked bacon, caramelized onions, chopped Romaine and tomato on a pretzel bun.

Race car driver John Andretti's Ford's Signature: Sharp cheddar, applewood smoked bacon, bourbon BBQ sauce, chopped Romaine, tomato and red onion on a brioche bun.

Indiana State Police superintendent, former Hamilton County sheriff Doug Carter's BBQ Brisket: Sharp cheddar, bourbon BBQ sauce, hickory smoked brisket, applewood smoked bacon, red onions and crispy onion straws on a brioche bun.

Noblesville fire marshal Darrel Cross' Patty Melt: Swiss cheese, caramelized onions and thousand island dressing on toasted rye bread.

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via e-mail: dbenbow@indystar.com.  

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy's sports stars dig into burgers named after them at Ford's Garage