The contributions needed to make a race team function and win races are widespread across dozens and dozens of men and women. Wins, podiums and poles are built on the hard work of so many people, and, as cliché as it sounds, each accomplishment is truly a team effort.  

This year for Black History Month, Arrow McLaren is celebrating by highlighting the work of its Black team members, who each give so much to their team to push Arrow McLaren forward, on and off track. From high-speed pit stops to coordinating day-to-day execution and strategy of social media, it’s all part of the winning formula here. And the high-performance attitude comes from the same place: a love for motorsport. 

For Tim Lane, Transportation Specialist, it started as a kid who loved speed and competition. From there, that love evolved into watching race cars. 

“Once I experienced that speed first hand at a race track, I was in,” Tim said. 

For Armand Gardenhire, Transportation Specialist, it started on the drag racing strip on the Northwest side of Indianapolis, where he and his Dad spent countless days watching drag racing. It sparked his love for speed and a dream to work in racing. And for Krystol Smith, Social Media Specialist, she was a late adopter of the sport but was immediately hooked after watching the popular docuseries, Drive to Survive. 

Tim and Armand operate in similar lanes at Arrow McLaren: driving our transporters to and from races, managing logistics of setup and teardown at track and serving on the pit crews, among other roles. Krystol leads the ideation, planning and execution of the team’s digital and social media efforts. 

Armand, who started his professional career in drag racing, said it’s a dream come true to work in INDYCAR. But as a person of color, it hasn’t come without its obstacles. 

“The biggest road block has been the networking side of it,” Armand said. “If you don’t have anyone to learn from, how do you make your way in? That was the hardest part. Now that I’m here, it’s much easier to connect with people.” 

Tim agreed. Getting your foot in the door is challenging enough in sports, but with a professional cohort that doesn’t look the same as you, it can be challenging to build those connections. 

“Figuring out how to even get my resume to teams to have a chance to be in motorsport was the biggest challenge for me,” Tim said. “I wasn’t aware of all of the opportunities I could pursue until I sought them out much later in life.” 

Breaking into the series is challenging, but now they see themselves as role models in the sport. They’re some of the few Black faces throughout the paddock, and they recognize and relish the opportunity to share advice and stories with their friends, families and Black fans they meet at track.  

“I love when I can meet people and talk about what I do,” Armand said. “They hype me up.” 

Some of those conversations are eye-opening. Just by being in the paddock, they send the message that there is space for Black people in racing and INDYCAR. There are Black men and women that are motorsports fans, but at times they can be reserved about expressing that passion or pursuing a career in this industry because of a perceived lack of Black community in the fan space. It’s a stigma that Tim, Armand and Krystol are trying to break. 

“It feels like every day a woman of color reaches out to me for connection and guidance, which I absolutely love,” Krystol said. “To be able to relate and inspire other Black women into taking risks and challenging the status quo is why I chose this career path in the first place. If a young, Black girl sees me on the broadcast one day doing my job and thinks, ‘Oh, she looks like me, I can do that,’ then my purpose has been fulfilled.” 

There’s still progress to be made to get more people of color in the sport. From greater outreach to Black communities at some of our street course races to more direct messaging to fans of different backgrounds, Tim, Armand and Krystol all agree that greater representation in motorsport is the most important next step.  

“Motorsport can be, and is, for everyone,” Krystol said. “It’s time we all start operating under that sentiment.”