IndyCar driver Conor Daly has shed light on a peculiar superstition among racing teams that considers the color green unlucky. Daly, who races for Juncos Hollinger Racing, explained that many teams avoid using green on their car liveries due to this belief, despite him sporting green on his No. 76 Chevy during some 2025 races.
During a recent interview on the Mythfits podcast with host Kari Byron, Daly was asked about any personal or team superstitions. He revealed that green is widely viewed as an unlucky color in the racing world, a notion that often surprises him given his own experiences.
“One superstition that I don’t know why, and it would really disagree with my entire life, but green is apparently a car color that you cannot have in racing,” Conor Daly said [30:30 onwards]. “Apparently, if your car is green, that’s bad luck. My car is green currently. Well, it has been green at some point this year. My helmet is black and green. I’ve had a lot of bad luck at random points in my life, so maybe that does apply in some cases.”
Daly elaborates on the strange green car superstition and his personal experience
Daly expanded on the odd nature of this superstition, especially given his ties to various racing disciplines including NASCAR and indirect connections to Formula 1 through his father, Derek Daly, a former F1 competitor. He noted that some race team owners maintain a strong belief that green cars bring misfortune.
“But there’s some sort of weird superstition about green racecars that some race team owners have. But if it’s a green sponsor or if anyone wants to be on our car and they have green company colors, guess what? They’re going on. It’s just something I always thought was weird, and I’ve had it mentioned to me a couple of times because obviously I have a black and green helmet.”
Despite carrying green, white, and black paint schemes for select IndyCar events this season, Daly’s teammate Sting Ray Robb also featured mainly green liveries but did not face the same level of difficulties. Daly, however, encountered several setbacks, which seemed to reinforce the superstition for some observers.
Issues encountered by Conor Daly during the 2025 IndyCar season
Throughout the season, Daly was plagued by unexpected tire wear on some oval tracks, including the prestigious Indy 500, where he was a contender before these problems affected his performance. Moreover, confrontations with other drivers, such as mid-race battles with Santino Ferrucci at Mid-Ohio and Christian Rasmussen in Portland, resulted in lost opportunities and hindered results.
Competition intensifies for Conor Daly’s Juncos Hollinger Racing seat in 2026
Daly’s contract with Juncos Hollinger Racing for the 2025 season was only for one year, and the team requires drivers to bring substantial sponsorship backing. Although he outperformed his teammate Sting Ray Robb in 2025, neither has yet secured extensions for the 2026 season.
The 2026 IndyCar driver market includes notable names such as Romain Grosjean, Linus Lundqvist, Dennis Hauger, Caoi Collet, Rinus Veekay, and Jacob Abel. Of these, Jacob Abel is expected to lose his seat at Dale Coyne Racing, while Grosjean and Hauger are considered top prospects for that team.
Rinus Veekay has departed Dale Coyne Racing and is projected to join AJ Foyt Racing to replace David Malukas. Malukas is likely to move to Team Penske, filling Will Power’s position. This sequence of moves leaves Linus Lundqvist and Caoi Collet as potential challengers for Daly’s IndyCar seat at Juncos Hollinger Racing.
Juncos Hollinger Racing recently confirmed a return to the Indy NXT series, and the team must fill four seats for 2026: two in the top-tier IndyCar series and two in Indy NXT. No official deadline for signing drivers has been announced.
Implications of the superstition and lineup uncertainty for the future
Conor Daly’s story highlights how longstanding traditions and beliefs, like the avoidance of green in racing, continue to influence team decisions and driver experiences, even as technical and sponsorship factors remain critical. Daly’s ongoing battle for a seat and the superstitions surrounding his car’s color add pressure to an already precarious position.
His challenges this season serve as a reminder that in the world of motorsports, performance, funding, and even intangible beliefs like superstition all play intertwined roles in shaping careers. The 2026 season’s driver lineup for Juncos Hollinger Racing, and the fate of Daly’s IndyCar career, will unfold amid this mix of competitive demand and the sport’s unique cultural elements.
