The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is virtually home for Indianapolis 500 race team owner Dennis Reinbold.
Reinbold, who owns Dreyer & Reinbold car dealerships (Volkswagen, BMW, Infiniti and Subaru) in Greenwood, hopes his race team, Dreyer-Reinbold Racing, can also own a piece of history with an Indianapolis 500 victory.
Dreyer-Reinbold Racing’s two drivers, Americans Sage Karam and J.R. Hildebrand, both qualified for the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500.
Karam qualified 24th in the No. 24 WIX Filters/DRR Chevrolet, while Hildebrand will be directly behind Karam in Row 9, starting 27th in the No. 66 Salesforce/DRR Chevrolet.
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“Sage and J.R. both find their way to the front of the field, it seems like, every year,” Reinbold said. “I expect them to do that again, and hopefully we’ll be there at the end.”
It’s going to be the 19th Indianapolis 500 for the veteran race team owner, who has fielded cars in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” since 2000.
Reinbold grew up around racing, living just minutes from the Speedway, and had a grandfather (Floyd “Pop” Dreyer) and other relatives who worked in racing.
Dreyer raced motorcycles and built cars for Duesenberg as well as his own Dreyer race cars. It’s because of his grandfather that Reinbold kept the Dreyer name, not only for his car dealership, but for the race team too.
After getting his business going, Reinbold looked into getting a racing team started — and when the Indy Racing League (IRL) was formed, he set out to the task of team ownership, thanks to his ties as an Infiniti dealer.
“I knew them and told them, ‘I want to do this, will you help me out?'” Reinbold said. “We got Purex as a sponsor at the time and things kind of took off from there.”
The team got off to a spectacular start as then driver Robbie Buhl won in the group’s debut at Walt Disney World Speedway in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando.
Buhl started the race 22nd and drove a steady race to take the win.
The team continued full time until after the 2013 Indianapolis 500. From then on, it’s been an Indy-only entity.
Given the chance to go back to full-time IndyCar racing, Reinbold said he would if the right opportunity came along.
“We’ve talked about it and yes, I would like to,” he said. “We would welcome the chance, as I think IndyCar is growing and getting better and better. We’ve expanded our equipment to be able to do that should we come up with the budget.
“We’re in position way better than before to pull that off.”
And if they do go back to full time, both Karam and Hildebrand may figure in Reinbold’s plans.
One thing is Reinbold has been generous on giving young drivers chances. Karam, who will be driving in his fourth 500 race with Dreyer-Reinbold Racing, can credit Reinbold with kick-starting his career.
“I got my first IndyCar and Indy 500 opportunity with this team,” Karam said. “For Dennis to put his faith in a rookie when I was 19 years old at the time, I think that shows a lot of his confidence in me. He is the most loyal team owner that I have had in my career.”
Hildebrand, returning to the team that gave him his start, agrees.
Hildebrand started for Dreyer-Reinbold Racing at Mid-Ohio in 2010, and competed in two races before heading off to other teams.
“I was filling in for Mike Conway after he was injured at the Speedway,” Hildebrand said. “Dennis tried a couple of young guns to fill in for Mike then. He and I talked a number of times about driving for him during the years. I have always gotten along great with Dennis as a team owner and a person.”
The 500 is a race that Dreyer hasn’t had the best of luck in yet. The team’s best finish was fourth place from Spanish driver Oriol Servia in 2012.
Although the Dreyer-Reinbold drivers survived bump day and are in the starting lineup, don’t think the team is just content to make the show. Reinbold said he’s in this to win and if this past Monday’s practice results are any indication, Dreyer-Reinbold Racing has a great chance.
Karam was the fastest of the day with impressive top speed of 226.421 miles per hour while using a race setup. He ran 71 laps.
Should either Karam or Hildebrand win, Reinbold can cross another item off his bucket list.
“That would be very special because of all my family history there,” Reinbold said. “I also had uncles that worked on pit crews and worked for the Speedway, and I grew up on West Washington (Street) and this is a lifelong goal of mine.”
A championship would also be a win for Johnson County, Reinbold said.
“I love Johnson County and love the south side,” he said. “Just good, stand-up people there and I really enjoy having a business in Johnson County and enjoy being a part of it.”
“I feel good about our chances of doing that and this is probably our best chance to pull that off. It’s still a place you go through the tunnel and look around and for me it still takes my breath away when you go in there.”
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Dennis Reinbold
Hometown: Indianapolis
Family: Wife Jennifer, two sons
College: University of Indianapolis
Notable drivers: John Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Robbie Buhl, Mike Conway, Buddy Lazier, Graham Rahal, Buddy Rice, Oriol Servia, Paul Tracy, Al Unser Jr., Justin Wilson.
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