By Noah Poser, Staff Writer
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has been a part of the INDYCAR garage dating back to before the turn of the century.
Fast forward to present day, and the team founded in 1999 by Indianapolis car dealer Dennis Reinbold remains a fixture in the series on racing’s biggest day each year, despite the team having not run a full INDYCAR season since 2012.
The organization has since shifted to a part-time schedule starting in 2014 that has consisted of the Indianapolis 500 and nothing else (apart from the 2020 covid season). The team is usually one of a couple teams, and sometimes the only team that attempts to qualify for the race each year despite not competing in INDYCAR on a full-time basis.
This year, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has once again enlisted the services of former Indy 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, who has raced for the team in the Indy 500 each of the past two seasons, and Jack Harvey, who’s competing in his first race of the season after having raced in the series on a nearly full-time basis since 2020.
Harvey, who starts 26th on Sunday, is competing in the Indy 500 on a one-race deal for the second time in his career and says the experience the team has in executing the one-off in the past has been a big boost not only to his confidence, but also Hunter-Reay’s as the two drivers prepare to hit the track for race day.
“Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, they know this dance,” Harvey said. “They get prepared for this race as a single event every year, so they probably have helped both of us drivers navigate some of that, especially from a timing perspective and knowing when it’s time to ramp things up.”
It’s an experience Cusick Motorsports founder Don Cusick has also been able to witness in close proximity, having partnered with Reinbold and his race team for each of the past two Indy 500s in an effort to field entries in the biggest race of the year.
The two entities have joined forces once again this year and Cusick says it’s not hard to figure out how Dreyer & Reinbold Racing manages to have continued success in the Indy 500 year-after-year (at least one car has finished inside the Top 11 in each of the past four years), despite the organization having the deck stacked against them.
“Dennis is a pure racer,” Cusick said. “He’s a really smart race strategist, he knows when to make the right moves at the right time and he has a team with a lot of heart. These guys have been here all night getting Ryan’s car back together (after the car had a fiery Carb Day explosion) and getting it ready to run. Both Jack and Ryan’s crews worked all night to get this car ready to go and that shows the kind of organization this is. It’s not all about racing. It’s about being a part of something bigger.”
Even before Hunter Reay, who starts 25th, had his Carb Day troubles, he recognized the amount of work the team has put into making Sunday’s race a successful one. He also downplayed the difference in competing in the Indy 500 as a full-time driver versus as a one-off driver and emphasized the challenges the situation raises for the rest of the organization.
“Indy is Indy,” Hunter-Reay said. “From a driving perspective, Indy is so unique so there’s nothing different on that side of it for me. It’s more just trying to get that large group of people together and making sure that everything is as you need it.”
He continued.
“It’s a lot to get on top of because you have a massive group of people coming together that need to operate and execute as efficiently as possible in a very short amount of time. There’s a lot to be on top of here (at Indy), which comes more naturally when you’re running the whole season. With all the new scenarios and protocols with the hybrid, and this being our first race with it, it’s a lot to manage. But this group does a great job with it every year and it’s a fun group to work with.”
Cusick is anticipating the camaraderie and the willingness to overcome setbacks will lead to another successful Indy 500 for the teams and their partnership.
“I expect us to move to the front,” Cusick said. “We’ve got a couple fast race cars and a great crew that knows how to support them. Last year we led the race for 22 laps, so I’d love to do that again.
“Especially the last lap.”