'Italian Brainrot' leaves IndyCar drivers confused; Conor Daly and Alex Palou react

Alex Palou, Conor Daly, Kyle Kirkwood, and other IndyCar drivers featured in IndyCar's latest upload on Instagram. The official account uploaded a reel of the drivers reacting to Italian Brainrot on April 29, 2025. Barring David Malukas, none of the drivers had any idea of what the famous meme's characters are called.

The Italian Brainrot are AI-generated images that are given pseudo-Italian names. The same became a trend in early 2025 and has since taken over the internet. As the IndyCar drivers gathered at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indy 500 open test, the social media team took the opportunity to ask drivers about the mem.

The caption of the video read, “Having IndyCar drivers guess Italian Brainrot”

The brain rots are essentially an AI-based fictional characters that usually combine a living and non-living thing, or brings a non-living thing to life. The same was started with an image of a shark wearing Nike sneakers and was called Tralalero Tralala.

Marcus Armstrong was shown Tralalero Tralala to which he replied, “Am I meant to guess the name of the Shark?”

Palou said, “Shark with Sneakers”

David Malukas, who's active on social media, did know the characters but wasn't able to properly pronounce the names.

The drivers next reacted to Tung Tung Tung Sahur, an alive baseball bat holding a baseball bat. Only Rinus VeeKay was able to correctly guess this character.

“I don't get the vibe at all. What the f**k is the this,” replied Armstrong.

“I didn't think that was a bat at first,” said Kirkwood.

The last character they guessed was Bombardiro Crocodilo, which is a WW2 bomber with the face of a crocodile. VeeKay and Malukas guessed the character instantly. Alex Palou, Rinus VeeKay, and Conor Daly later commented under the Instagram post and reacted to the video.

“I still can't understand,” wrote Alex Palou.

VeeKay commented, “Brr Brr Patapim my king”.

“This is my "I'm too old for this" moment,” said Conor Daly.

Image credits: Instagram/@indycar

Towards the end of the video, Marcus Armstrong said, “Guys, I'm not paid enough for this.”

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IndyCar drivers prepare for the 2025 Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix

With the Indy 500 open test done and dusted, drivers can look forward to the upcoming race at the Barber Motorsports Park. The first week of May will be dedicated to the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, while the remainder of the month will focus on the IMS Road Course race and the Indy 500.

Scott McLaughlin seems to be in great form for the month of May as he topped the timing sheets at the Indy 500 test and was also the pole sitter last year. The Kiwi driver will also be pushing for the three-peat at Barber Motorsports Park, as he won the race in the last couple of years.

Alex Palou will be looking to increase his championship lead, whereas the likes of Colton Herta, Scott Dixon, and Pato O'Ward will be searching for their first win of the season.