Driving Force

Jul. 21—When Roger Penske contacted Ernie Francis Jr. about an opportunity in the racing industry, there was no way Francis Jr. was turning him down.

The opportunity is still in its infancy, but Francis Jr. hopes it can now serve as motivation for future African American teams.

"When Roger Penske calls and asks you to be part of one of his programs, you can't turn that down," Francis Jr. said during an Indy Lights private test at Iowa Speedway on June 22. "The program is called Race For Equality and Change in Motorsports."

Francis Jr. is racing in Indy Lights for the first time after winning seven Trans Am Series championships in eight seasons.

There's been a big learning curve for Francis Jr.'s team — Force Indy — in season one. They are currently in 11th place in the team standings, but Francis Jr. is getting better with every open wheel race.

"He's a winner. I think the challenge for him is that this car is very different than what he's driven before," Force Indy Team Principal Rod Reed said. "He's very methodical about the way he approaches the sport and the way he approaches his ability. That's necessary for us — having someone who is patient but also driven."

Force Indy is the only team in open wheel racing with a majority of its members being African American.

Reed and Penske put the team together in the Indy Lights circuit with hopes of getting into the Indy 500, according to Francis Jr.

The Force Indy driver is excited to be the face of a team which could pave the way for African American drivers, principals and crew members who come after his team.

"It's awesome we can be that example for the kids," Francis Jr. said. "We've had kids come out to a bunch of the events we've done this year so it's been really cool to meet them. When they come out to the track and they see us and they see our mechanic and they see Rod and they see we look just like them and are racing at the highest level.

"It gives them hope they can achieve whatever dreams they have whether that's racing or anything else."

One of Francis' biggest messages to those who might come after him is to never give up on their dreams. It hasn't always been positive for Francis Jr., but his effort and desire to be great has never wavered.

"It's always been a dream of mine to do this and there have been a lot of hard times where I thought it may not happen, but you just keep pushing after it and here we are now and one step closer to racing in the big league," said Francis Jr., who started racing go-carts when he was 4 years old. "It's definitely difficult. There are a lot of eyes on us and a lot of people are watching us to know what we do, and I think the biggest thing we are trying to prove is that it doesn't matter what we look like or what color our skin is. All that matters is how we perform on the track. Once we have a helmet on, we are just like every other team out there and like every other driver."

The Force Indy race team had a clutch issue during the early part of the private test at Iowa Speedway back in June. They had a slower start to the day than some of the others in the Indy Lights field.

They hope what they learned on that day will help them this weekend when the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires competes in a 100-lap race on Saturday.

"This test is huge for our team. Just being on an oval, you have to be extra attentive in the car and make sure nothing breaks," Reed said. "The other thing for Ernie, it's a different animal than Trans Am. I always say it's like someone asking you to drive a motor bike and then you get off it and go drive a tractor. It's that dramatically different. We will be going faster (this weekend) than we have ever gone before in an Indy Lights car, too."

The biggest challenge for Francis Jr. and his entire team has been the dramatic change that comes with the cars. It hasn't been an easy transition adapting to open wheel racing.

The cars are very different from anything he's been in before.

"A lot of the guys who compete in open wheel racing have grown up doing open wheel racing their whole lives," Francis Jr. said. "They've gone from USF200 to Indy Pro or started out in Europe with Formula One.

"The team we have is part of the program and they came from working on go-carts before and they were working on USF cars last year with Force Indy and now they are jumping to Indy Lights cars. "There is that pressure. Everyone wants to know if we are going to succeed at this, but I think we have the team to do it."

Francis Jr. will drive around Newton's 7/8-mile oval in a red and black 99 Force Indy car.

The number and colors have some significance behind them, too. Reed wanted to hearken back to those who came before them when it came to branding Force Indy.

"We are not the first African American team and Ernie is not the first African American driver," Reed said. "There were early days back in the 1920s when African American drivers were not allowed to be part of mainstream motorsports, they were not allowed to race at the Indy 500 or other events where white drivers could.

"I garnered a great deal of respect for Dewey Gatson after knowing the kind of challenges he had to overcome. Toward the end of his career, he was running a car with the number 99 and we decided we would use 99 if that number was available. This is paying respect to him not being able to even win and, in some cases, race on the same levels as other professional drivers."

Reed and his team also have a good luck charm at the rear of their Indy Lights car.

"In addition to that, we decided to paint our tail red to pay homage to the Tuskegee Airmen and the red tail wings they flew in and for the fact they never lost a plane," Reed said. "We'll never lose a car now and never crash. That's our good luck charm."