Firestone's Krstolic explores creative side with Legge's Indy 500 helmet design

Cara Krstolic is best known for her work as Firestone’s Director of Race Tire Engineering and Manufacturing, and she’s added a new accomplishment to her career: Helmet livery designer for her best friend Katherine Legge, who starts from 27th in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.

Krstolic, who also creates hand-written messages for each driver in the 200-lap race, leans into her artistic side through music as well and can occasionally be found in the grandstands at quiet times during the month of May playing the flute.

“Kat gave me a blank slate and said go for it,” Krstolic told RACER. “So, the bricks, of course, the iconic bricks of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, we've got a Tudor rose or an English rose, because she's my English rose, and Pikes Peak, because we went to Pikes Peak together, and she drove amazingly fast up a stupid mountain. Then the sunsets are just her colors there.

"So we were able to do this, and then the amazing and talented Ellie Krstolic helped us on a helmet design for the next event.”

Marshall Pruett photo

Krstolic’s stepdaughter was asked to do the design for the top of Legge’s NASCAR helmet she’ll use while trying to complete ‘The Double’ on Sunday as she sprints from Indy to Charlott to try and run 600 miles in her Live Fast Motorsports Chevy Cup car.

“I have the same thing for Charlotte, for The Double only,” Legge said. “Instead of the bricks, we have the Charlotte Motor Speedway logo and Grandfather Mountain.”

For Krstolic, the ability to express herself through the arts is helpful as she seeks balance amid the constant pressure to produce fine IndyCar tires.

“I think math and music and art are so linked and interchangeable; they're like languages, but art and music helps me decompress after the very, very long, difficult days that you have at the Speedway or others,” she said.

“It lets me activate another side of my brain, and I love being able to do art and music, and just show you can do lots of other things other than just engineering. And then maybe you'll have a friend that's cool enough as my best friend here to let you do something cool like this.”