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Editor's note: This story was originally published in 2022. We are republishing it as part of our coverage of the 2026 Indy 500.
Conor Daly wanted to have a little extra fun at his motorhome as part of his ninth appearance in the Indianapolis 500. So he took a page out of former IndyCar racer -- and his hero -- Tomas Scheckter’s book and brought a miniature hot tub to the paddocks.
Daly just wanted to see what that experience was like and enjoy some relaxation during his time away from the track. While Daly flaunted his hot tub on social media, other drivers began plotting against the then Ed Carpenter Racing driver.
On Tuesday morning, Daly woke up to his hot tub filled with hundreds of thousands of Orbeez, which are tiny balls that expand once submerged in water. What started as a fun addition to his motorhome has become a minor headache.
“I was very excited about it at first,” Daly said. “Now it's become a lot of work. Alex Rossi brought me one of those like pool scoopers where you clean out debris because as I refilled it with water (Thursday) for the weekend turns out there's still a lot of debris in there.”
But on Thursday afternoon, Daly still didn’t know who pulled off the prank.
“A bunch of snakes out here in the paddock,” Daly said. “I've got no answers to who has delivered all of the debris to my hot tub. But I hope to find out someday and when I do find out, they better run and hide.”
Just hours before Daly spoke with the media on Thursday, however, veteran driver and known prankster Tony Kanaan nearly outed himself to IndyStar.
When first asked about the Orbeez prank, Kanaan — with a grin on his face — claimed to know nothing about it. But after some prodding, Kanaan began to use the word “we” when referencing the situation.
“Oh, the hot tub. I heard, yeah. Well, let me put it this way, when somebody brought the idea up, because we — some people — discussed that the idea was to put a couple of them there. Well, we put 400,000 of them in there, so that's all I'm going to say,” Kanaan said.
Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport went as far as saying Daly was asking for it by bringing a hot tub to the paddock and posting a picture of it on Instagram. Herta claimed to have no idea who pulled off the prank but gave kudos to the person who did.
While Daly disagrees that he was asking for his hot tub to be invaded by Orbeez, he welcomes the lighthearted pranks. He appreciates the longstanding tradition of the drivers pulling pranks on each other, which started more than 20 years ago.
By now, all of the drivers know to expect some elaborate pranks at the Indy 500. Kanaan and Bryan Herta, the father of Colton Herta, were some of the original masterminds. While in Japan in 2004, the pair, along with Dario Franchitti, pulled one of the biggest pranks of all time. They stole every left shoe of teammate Dan Wheldon and shipped them back to the United States.
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Conor Daly wanted to have a little extra fun at his motorhome as part of his ninth appearance in the Indianapolis 500. So he took a page out of former IndyCar racer -- and his hero -- Tomas Scheckter’s book and brought a miniature hot tub to the paddocks.
Daly just wanted to see what that experience was like and enjoy some relaxation during his time away from the track. While Daly flaunted his hot tub on social media, other drivers began plotting against the then Ed Carpenter Racing driver.
On Tuesday morning, Daly woke up to his hot tub filled with hundreds of thousands of Orbeez, which are tiny balls that expand once submerged in water. What started as a fun addition to his motorhome has become a minor headache.
“I was very excited about it at first,” Daly said. “Now it's become a lot of work. Alex Rossi brought me one of those like pool scoopers where you clean out debris because as I refilled it with water (Thursday) for the weekend turns out there's still a lot of debris in there.”
But on Thursday afternoon, Daly still didn’t know who pulled off the prank.
“A bunch of snakes out here in the paddock,” Daly said. “I've got no answers to who has delivered all of the debris to my hot tub. But I hope to find out someday and when I do find out, they better run and hide.”
Just hours before Daly spoke with the media on Thursday, however, veteran driver and known prankster Tony Kanaan nearly outed himself to IndyStar.
When first asked about the Orbeez prank, Kanaan — with a grin on his face — claimed to know nothing about it. But after some prodding, Kanaan began to use the word “we” when referencing the situation.
“Oh, the hot tub. I heard, yeah. Well, let me put it this way, when somebody brought the idea up, because we — some people — discussed that the idea was to put a couple of them there. Well, we put 400,000 of them in there, so that's all I'm going to say,” Kanaan said.
Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport went as far as saying Daly was asking for it by bringing a hot tub to the paddock and posting a picture of it on Instagram. Herta claimed to have no idea who pulled off the prank but gave kudos to the person who did.
While Daly disagrees that he was asking for his hot tub to be invaded by Orbeez, he welcomes the lighthearted pranks. He appreciates the longstanding tradition of the drivers pulling pranks on each other, which started more than 20 years ago.
By now, all of the drivers know to expect some elaborate pranks at the Indy 500. Kanaan and Bryan Herta, the father of Colton Herta, were some of the original masterminds. While in Japan in 2004, the pair, along with Dario Franchitti, pulled one of the biggest pranks of all time. They stole every left shoe of teammate Dan Wheldon and shipped them back to the United States.
Continue reading...
