Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing was founded in 1999 by Dennis Reinbold and Eric DeBord and made its first IndyCar Series start in 2000, when the series was still known as the IRL. Right in its very first race, the season opener at Walt Disney World Speedway, driver Robbie Buhl caused a sensation by winning from 22nd on the grid. In the years that followed, the team went through a series of engine partners, from Infiniti to Chevrolet and, from 2005, Honda, further building its reputation as a down-to-earth but scrappy Indiana team.

A chapter all its own in the team’s history leads back to the founder’s own family: Dennis Reinbold’s grandfather, known as Pop Dreyer, was an early icon of open-wheel racing who once ran Duesenberg’s racing operations, where he built successful midget, sprint, and Indy cars. The name Dreyer & Reinbold is therefore no mere marketing construct but a deliberate link between two generations of American motorsport. Away from the track, the team spent years serving as national spokesperson for the charity Racing for Kids, in that role visiting more than 20,000 children in over 400 hospitals worldwide.

The team’s most eventful sporting period stretched through the 2000s with a string of notable drivers. Alongside Robbie Buhl, who drove himself until 2004 and remained active as team owner afterward, Sarah Fisher turned heads in 2002 when she became the first woman in North American open-wheel racing history to claim a pole position, at Kentucky Speedway. 2004 Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice drove for the team from 2007 and posted several top-five finishes, while Ryan Briscoe reached the podium in the rain at Watkins Glen in 2006. Buddy Lazier, the 2000 season champion, was also part of the driver lineup for a time, underlining the team’s pull for established IndyCar names.

The team’s more recent era is inseparable from the name Dennis Reinbold, who led the team for decades until his death in June 2026 at age 65 after a long battle with cancer. For the 2026 season, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing fields the driver pairing of Conor Daly and Jack Harvey, with Harvey returning to the Indianapolis 500 once again after a strong 2025. The loss of the founder hit the team hard, but the sporting and structural direction already set is meant to be continued.

Just how far Dennis Reinbold’s vision reaches beyond his death is shown by the team’s announcement that it will return to full-time competition in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES from 2027. This is made possible by the purchase of a charter from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, pending approval from the IndyCar Series. For Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s fans, that means the 2026 season with Daly and Harvey is just one stage on the road back to the full scale the team once held under its founder.