Former IndyCar driver seeks inspiring return

This is how life can change on a T-shirt.

In 2005, a fifth-grade Fishers girl went to Indianapolis Motor Speedway with her family and became mesmerized by a turquoise-and-green race car. She bought a photograph of the Brazilian driver, took it to that month's downtown parade and held it up as he rolled past. Then it happened.

Vitor Meira gave her a thumbs-up.

"I thought that was the coolest thing in the world," Liz Van Oostenburg said Thursday. "I was hooked."

Things happened fast from there. The young girl told friends at Hoosier Road Elementary of her celebrity connection, and several joined in on the fun. When the chance to meet the IndyCar Series driver at a Northside appearance presented itself in 2006, they made T-shirts bearing Meira's picture and a message:

I (Heart) Vitor

A bond was established.

Those first shirts were orange because that was the color of Meira's car that year, but later shirts were yellow. The Fishers fan club grew a hundred strong, and Meira's race team, Panther Racing, eventually distributed a couple thousand of those simple shirts.

"You think about all the money spent on graphic designs and team logos and yet our most popular item in the Vitor era was a homemade T-shirt designed by a girl in elementary school," former Panther public relations director Mike Kitchel said. "My wife still wears one."

Meira not only appreciated the following, he reciprocated the love. He frequently met with the children and stunned Van Oostenburg by offering her a ride in the 500 Festival Parade first as a sixth grader and then again as a high school junior.

Today, Van Oostenburg said Meira is the reason she is studying public relations at Purdue University and has worked the past two Indianapolis 500s for Bryan Herta Autosport, an IndyCar team. Her dream is to work full-time in the sport.

"In elementary school, we wrote journal articles, and mine always was tied to Vitor," she said. "Like, 'What's your favorite ice cream flavor?' Mine was 'Vitor Meira flavor.'

"I always loved IndyCar racing – my grandpa always went to the 500 and people would meet at our house to go – but something about the way Vitor was welcoming to everyone and so engaging gave me the confidence to get into racing."

Meira's part of the story seemed to end after the 2011 season when he couldn't find another IndyCar ride. He returned home to Brasilia to help his father run the family business, an advertising and promotions company focused on governmental affairs. He took local stock car and touring car rides he could find.

Nearly two years ago, a sequence of events began altering Meira's direction. His father, sick and about to die, encouraged him to give the Indianapolis 500, a race he twice finished second in (2005, '08), another try. Then officials from the city and the local road racing course asked for assistance in bringing an IndyCar event their way. Meira is the leading ambassador for the series' season-opening race there March 8.

The combination of the new Brasilia race and the momentum of Meira's family business has the 37-year-old energized about a return to the U.S.

"I'm recharged and ready to get back there," he said Wednesday night from Brasilia. "This race here has created opportunities for sponsors and the two (IndyCar) races that really appeal here are this one and Indianapolis. So why not put a package together?"

Meira confirmed discussions with Honda, but he wants to have funding in place before settling on a team, although Bryan Herta's team, which won the 500 in '11 with Dan Wheldon, is a logical landing spot. Word is that even John Menard, who brought Meira to the series as an unknown in 2002, might be interested in supporting Meira again.

Meira was one of Danica Patrick's first IndyCar teammates, and he was the hard-luck driver who never won a series race despite eight runner-up finishes.

But his young fan club members never lost interest.

"They might need to get those shirts back out," he said, laughing.

Follow Curt Cavin on Twitter: @curtcavin