ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Near the end of his visit with students at Academy Prep Center on Thursday, Indy Lights rookie Ernie Francis fielded a big question: What’s it like being a Black race car driver?
“When my helmet’s on, I’m just another race car driver,” Francis said. “It doesn’t matter what I look like or where I’m from. When I’m on the track, I’m just trying to be the best race car driver I can be.”
But off the track, it does matter. That’s why the Haitian-American was speaking to a room full of children at the predominantly Black school a day before he suits up as an Indy Lights rookie at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
