INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� Each May, Dennis Reinbold would come to the Indianapolis 500 and explain he desperately wanted to return to full-time IndyCar racing.
His dream is on the cusp of becoming reality.
A little more than a month after his oldest son, Derek, announced Dreyer & Reinbold Racing had purchased one of the series’ 25 charters from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The transaction paves the way for DRR to run one full-time car next season for the first time since 2012.
Series officials must still approve the move, though that appears to be little more than a formality.
鈥淭here are a lot of emotions today,鈥� Derek Reinbold said Wednesday on a conference call. 鈥淟et me just start with my dad because he spent years working towards this moment. He believed this team belonged in the IndyCar Series full-time, and he never stopped building toward that goal. He and I were talking through this charter purchase right up until he went into the hospital. Today is bittersweet. I wish he were on this call with us. But I know exactly how he鈥檇 feel today because this was his vision, and we鈥檙e really proud to finish what he started.鈥�
The late Reinbold became a regular in Gasoline Alley after co-founding the team in 2000, fielding cars, often multiple cars, in each of During that time, DRR employed nearly three dozen drivers though it reached victory lane only one time 鈥� when Robbie Buhl won at Walt Disney World Speedway in January 2000.
The team’s top finish at Indianapolis came in 2012 when Oriol Servia was fourth. But following that season, DRR came up short on funding and began cutting back its schedule. From 2013-19, DRR’s drivers were limited to one race 鈥� Indianapolis.
It appeared there may be an opening for DRR when Sage Karam competed in all four events held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the COVID-19 season in 2020. But the team returned to just one-race seasons from 2021 through Reinbodld’s death following a battle with cancer last month.
Now, all indications are that DRR will return to full-time action next year.
鈥淭he first transfer of an IndyCar charter is an important milestone for the IndyCar charter system and demonstrates that the system is working as intended,” said Mark Miles, the president and CEO of IndyCar’s parent company Penske Entertainment. 鈥淭he charter system provides teams with a valuable asset encouraging their continued investment in the long-term growth of the sport while also providing new ownership groups with a clear pathway into the series. It鈥檚 another step in strengthening the long-term foundation of IndyCar.鈥�
Bobby Rahal’s team received three of the 25 charters when they were first introduced in 2024, but when it decided to scale back from three full-time cars to two next season, the idea of helping Reinbold’s team get back in the mix just seemed like the right thing to do.
鈥淚 have always had tremendous respect for Dennis Reinbold, both as a fellow team owner and as a fellow automobile dealer,” the 1986 Indy winner said in a statement. 鈥淗is dedication to IndyCar and the legacy he built over many years earned the respect of everyone in the paddock. Dennis had expressed interest in acquiring a charter from the time the charter program was established, and we had several discussions with him before his passing. We鈥檙e pleased we were able to complete this transaction, and we can鈥檛 think of a more deserving organization to receive the charter.鈥�
Rahal also said in the statement that he believes a two-car team will better position RLL to 鈥渕aximize鈥� its competition level and focus on the introduction of a new race car in 2028.
___
AP auto racing:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
