Indy NXT Driver Busts Out Incredible Tampa Bay Lightning Helmet For Season Opener

The IndyCar season is about to get underway this weekend, and that means the Indy NXT series will get started as well.

Seeing as both series open with races around the streets of St. Petersburg, driver Nolan Allaer is tipping his cap to the local hockey team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, with one beauty of a brain bucket and a top-tier firesuit to match.

That's a great-looking helmet and I like how the firesuit is modeled after the Bolts' black third jersey.

According to his bio on the Indy NXT website, Allaer — who drives the No. 11 for HMD Motorsports — is a hockey guy and at one point even gave up racing to play. Obviously, he's back in the cockpit, and this is a cool way to meld the two sports together.

If Allaer's name sounds familiar, it might be because he knows a thing or two about a thing or two when it comes to bringing spectacular helmets to the track. Last season, he used a Honolulu blue Detroit Lions lid that was absolutely incredible.

And paired with the Martini livery? Perfection.

I get the sense that we may see a few more special buckets this season from Allaer, who joins what has to be one of the best Indy NXT fields in recent memory.

Indy NXT — which was formerly called Indy Lights — is one step below the NTT IndyCar Series and typically serves as a support series on race weekends. This year's field features a lot of names you may be familiar with.

One of them is Hailie Deegan, who is trading stock cars for single-seaters this season and will drive the No. 38 for HMD Motorsports. 

Others in the field include former F2 driver Dennis Hauger and former F3 drivers Sophia Floersch and Caio Collett.

The Indy NXT season gets underway on Sunday, March 2 at 10 am ET — just ahead of the NTT IndyCar Series' Grand Prix of St. Petersburg at noon — and you can catch the race live on FS1.