While driving in a race in his home state of Ohio, IndyCar driver Graham Rahal will pay tribute to the Ohio State Buckeyes football team. Rahal will be at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend. As a way to honor the reigning national champions, he had a customized helmet made. Designer Austin Polen, with the help of Ohio State football director of player personnel Mark Pantoni, took the design of the Buckeyes helmets and put it on a racing helmet for Rahal. From the paint job to the Buckeye leaves, pretty much everything is there. In case you were wondering, there are 18 Buckeye leaves on the helmet, which represent each of his podium finishes as an IndyCar driver. Rahal talked about the customized helmet with Tim May of the Columbus Dispatch: It is beyond awesome. … I had this concept that, with Ohio State having won the national championship and us being in the championship battle here, it would be fun to come home and do something I haven’t done before. This thing, it is very accurate. There’s no doubt Rahal will be the crowd favorite. [Graham Rahal, h/t CBS Sports]
Continue Reading: IndyCar Driver Graham Rahal to Wear Customized Ohio State Helmet in Ohio Race
