The loss of his mother to Type 1 diabetes, at 13 years old, forced Kristian Aleixo to live out most of his high school career on the cold cement floor of an 8×10 storage unit.

Despite being fraught with these challenging conditions, Kristian found a mental escape by joining a local car club that introduced him to the sport of autocross, without anyone learning of his secret life of homelessness. Upon graduating high school, and still seeking housing stability, Kristian enlisted in the U.S. Army with an eventual goal of becoming a combat helicopter pilot.

Tragically, this dream would never come to pass. After hundreds of days in a combat zone during the war in Iraq, he was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes on the battlefield, making him ineligible to attend pilot’s school and relegating him to being medically discharged and a subsequent early retirement. Facing this unexpected chronic illness, he reprogrammed his passion, his priorities and his mindset to forge a new dream.

He now wanted to grow his pre-existing love of autocross into being a professional race car driver. Entering the world’s most expensive sport without a name like Andretti or major financial backing has proven to be his greatest mountain to climb yet. He has had to risk more than most would venture, to even be in the same room as his competitors, but in a twist of fate, his former homelessness and time at war has prepared him to do just that.

Join us on this remarkable adventure and be a part of history as Kristian races toward the pinnacle of motorsports… the Indianapolis 500!