INDIANAPOLIS — James Roe is an up-and-coming INDY NXT driver from a town in Ireland about 20 minutes outside of Dublin.
This weekend, this Irish driver will be all Fighting Irish when he races in a golden helmet inspired by the University of Notre Dame's football team.
"I'm super happy to run the Notre Dame team's helmet here," Roe said. "We have a massive opportunity here to merge fan bases together... and an Irish driver in the middle of it all was the perfect fit."
Roe said the helmet represents the close bond between Notre Dame and his home country.
He said the university took great care to make an authentic race-car version of the team's iconic golden football helmets.
"It wasn't just any helmet painter who did it," Roe said. "They took the helmet, did it the way they do their football helmets.
"It's quite unique to have this gold helmet here in Indianapolis."
Roe is from Naas County, Kildare, Ireland, and grew up near the Mondello Park race track.
"There's only one race track in the whole country, and I grew up two miles from it," Roe said. "So, that's where my passion started."
His racing talent took him to the U.S. in 2018.
These days, Roe drives the No. 29 Topcon car for Andretti Global. He said he hopes to one day race in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
Roe and his golden helmet will race Friday and Saturday during the INDY NXT by Firestone doubleheader at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
He's predicting a win and said he knows one thing for certain will happen this weekend: "It's the fastest the gold helmet will have ever gone."
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on X/Twitter: @vicryc.
