Understanding Dreyer & Reinbold’s “emotional” full-time return & IndyCar’s first charter sale
- Archie O’Reilly
- 1 hour ago
- 14 min read
The IndyCar world was rocked last month by the passing of veteran team owner Dennis Reinbold. The paddock lost a tremendous servant who represented the sport with such passion and dedication, particularly as the figurehead of his Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (DRR) team.
After moving away from full-time IndyCar competition in 2012, Reinbold continued to head a plucky Indianapolis 500-only effort, standing firm as an integral part of the race’s framework, even as the prevalence of such one-off entries faded in recent times. But as the years ticked by, there grew a great ambition for his team to return as a permanent fixture on the top table.
Even in his final weeks, his obsession about purchasing the charter that would allow his team a path back to full-season racing in IndyCar scarcely wavered.
“He believed this team belonged in the IndyCar Series full-time,” said Derek Reinbold, Dennis’ eldest son. “He never stopped building towards that goal. He and I were talking through this charter purchase right up until he went into the hospital.”
It is these unrelenting efforts that will make 22nd July 2026 stand long in the memory.
Announced on Wednesday, a two-year process of DRR exploring avenues to reestablish themselves as a full-time team had resulted in IndyCar’s first-ever charter sale. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) have forgone an entry, with DRR having purchased one of their three charters to enable the running of a single-car operation in 2027 and beyond.
The charter system was first introduced after the 2024 season as a way to give team owners value to their assets. The first charter transaction serves as a landmark day for the sport itself, as well as marking a milestone moment for DRR.
“Now is the right time - not just because the charter is available but because it was my dad’s ambition that we go full-time as soon as possible,” Reinbold explained. “And our ambition is to expand the programme while retaining the great results that we’ve had at the Indy 500.”
DIVEBOMB breaks down the process that led to the historic first charter purchase and how DRR are building back into a full-time IndyCar operation…
The process of buying a charter
Before getting over the line for this week’s announcement, discussions had been ongoing for the past month between DRR and RLL to reach the point of an agreement.
Once they got wind of a charter being available, they knew they had to pounce at the opportunity - because their efforts to return to IndyCar on a full-time basis had been ongoing for a much longer period. This was not impulse opportunism, by any stretch.
“We’ve been working really actively over the last two years to identify the right opportunity and take the next step as a team,” divulged Brett De Bord, president and chief commercial officer at DRR. “Every year, every cycle of the off-season, people were pretty vocal about: ‘Oh, Dreyer & Reinbold is talking about going full time again.’ We finally achieved that.”
This marks new ground being broken for IndyCar and its teams, for there was no precedent set for the process of a charter being sold.
Even once the opportunity with RLL had been identified, it was by no means as simple as merely a fact of money changing hands. The next stage of the process was for DRR themselves to sell why they were deserving recipients of the charter, versus other entities likely also interested.
“You can’t buy something that somebody doesn’t want to sell,” De Bord affirmed, speaking in a media call on Tuesday. “You’ve got to make an argument as to why, what your plan is and who you are and what you’re able to do and how you’re going to be the steward of that charter or that opportunity.
“It isn’t just about dollars and cents; it’s about the fit and who we are as operators of an IndyCar team. No secret, there’s likely a lot of PE [private equity] and venture capital interest in professional sports. Live streaming is a hedge with where linear and streaming have gone. Live sports have seemed to be really resilient in terms of sports properties and investment.
“So there’s definitely third-party interest from large New York, London, LA-based groups who want to invest on a minority level or even a majority level. But what sets us apart is we already are operators of an IndyCar team and we know what we’re up against and know how to go fast - at least right now at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“We were different than other interest or other inquiries by other people. We already were an existing team; we just were Indy-only.”
In securing the charter, common ground was easy to find given, much like DRR, RLL is a generationally-run operation. It also helped that those behind the DRR operation, whether the Reinbold or De Bord family, have long-standing relationships with the Rahals.
There was always a mutual respect between Dennis Reinbold and Bobby Rahal as esteemed car dealers, while Brett and father Eric De Bold, who formed DRR alongside Reinbold in 1999, would often share lunches with Rahal in years gone by.
“They were true partners throughout the entire process,” De Bold said. “Really, the conversation happened pretty quickly back in the middle of June. From the get-go, there was a real partnership and a willingness to work with each other to make this happen.
“It was all about an appropriate fit to both of our organisations. We’re very like-minded in how we do things, both professionally in performance and technically.”
DRR had explored opportunities with other teams, albeit with no confirmation offered as to who they were. Back in May, though, simply as evidence of another pre-existing relationship in the paddock, they formed an alliance with Juncos Hollinger Racing (JHR) for the Indianapolis 500, making Rinus VeeKay’s No.76 a co-entry between the teams.
“There were lots of discussions,” De Bord disclosed. “I won’t go into details about whom we may or may not have spoken to. But it really came down to fit and the mutual respect and the process that we went through with the RLL guys and their family about finding the right fit and working with people you really like and can get to some middle ground with.”
Honouring the late Dennis Reinbold
With Dennis Reinbold in tow, the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team has been ever-present at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since the turn of the millennium. Returning next May, it will simply not be the same in his absence.
But the family legacy will continue to be honoured - now on this much-coveted wider-season scale too. Dennis himself carried on the legacy of what came before, the origins of the DRR team dating back to his grandfather, Floyd Dreyer, initially a mechanic and then builder of Indy 500 cars back in the 1930s.
Now it is over to the next generation and Derek Reinbold, in his role as chief executive officer, to help helm the team. And for the junior Reinbold, there is a certain poignance to this week’s announcement, knowing his father is not around to see the chapter he worked so hard to forge.
“There are a lot of emotions,” he admitted. “My dad spent years working towards this moment. Today is bittersweet. I wish he were on this call with us. But I know exactly how he’d feel because this was his vision - and we’re really proud to finish what he started. For my family, this is the next chapter of a story that goes back nearly a century.
“Racing at Indy is just who we are. Starting in 2027, I’m excited that we get to live that every race weekend - not just in May. Getting to build for a whole season, not just for a month, changes what this team can become.
“I know my dad would be proud today and so our job is to keep making him proud in 2027.”
The formative planning for the team in its previous full-time guise, which Dennis was central to, was delivered on a cocktail napkin in the 1990s, as De Bord recalls. There was almost an immediate reward incredibly delivered when Robbie Buhl won on the team’s debut at Walt Disney World Speedway in the opening race of the 2000 season.
The feat of victory was never again repeated across 13 years as a full-time IndyCar outfit. But as time has gone on, the team has increasingly longed for a return to those days.
“Dennis was solely focused on this opportunity over the last two-to-three years,” De Bord reflected. “We sat in the bus at Indy for long hours, many days during the Month of May trying to ideate and brainstorm. Not only at IMS but also year-round.
“Multiple times a day, [we were] speaking to each other on the phone about how we thought it looked and what opportunities existed and trying to work with groups that may have had an interest in it. Really, the only regret I have is that he isn’t here today to see this.
“This was a labour of love for him for a very long time and we’re going to make him proud, get the Indy 500 win that he worked so hard for - and championships and race wins.”
Driver, OEM & alliance talks
There are lots of decisions for DRR to make ahead of this venture. Chief among those will be selecting a driver from a vast pool of high-end free agents, whether a name familiar to the team - for example Conor Daly - or more of a wildcard selection.
They want a driver to tackle what will be a tricky first year, given the deficit of knowledge of the Dallara DW12 - in its final season - relative to the field’s experienced campaigners. On that same token, they also want someone with the know-how to help build towards the transition to a new car for the series for the 2028 season.
DRR have consciously timed their full-time return with what could be something of a reset for teams amid the introduction of the IR28 chassis at the end of next season. They are already “actively planning around” that major change for the sport.
“We haven’t signed a driver yet,” said Chase Selman, DRR’s team principal and chief operations officer. “We’re throwing all the names in a hat that are available and we’ll evaluate each one of them on their own basis. Indy is obviously extremely important to us, but the simple fact of the matter is it’s about the championship as well now.
“We’ve got to make decisions for the team that are going to put us ahead and help us develop not only for next year and do the catch-up programme, but when the playing field is leveled, if you will, with the new car, who puts us in the best place for that as well.
“A lot of factors we’ve got to put into play here. The next several weeks will be just that and deciding who it is.”
Beyond the selection of a driver, DRR will be required to sign with an engine manufacturer, which is also a decision also yet to be finalised. They have a long-standing relationship with Chevrolet, with whom their Indy-only efforts have always been partnered, but they have purchased a charter from a team vacating a Honda-powered entry.
“We’re not ready to speak about those details just yet,” De Bord confirmed. “We’ve had meaningful conversations and that’ll come out at a later time when we’re ready to make those announcements.”
Something else to weigh up is the prospect of aligning with an existing team - in hand gaining access to their bank of full-season data, which DRR will lack - to limit the extent to which they enter next season on the back foot.
DRR are very keen on the idea of a technical alliance, which has been popularised in recent years. De Bord alluded to being “really excited about what we can achieve together in the future” with RLL but is similarly not yet in a position to speak publicly on any relationship.
“There’s been a lot of good examples of two organisations working together,” De Bord said. “We’ve seen the success that Chip Ganassi Racing and Meyer Shank Racing have had together; they’ve pooled resources and a lot of really smart people in the same room.
“Instead of three and two, they have five really smart drivers in the same room doing debriefs and sharing information and data to make both organisations better. We like that model. We believe in that model. To keep pace with our peers and our competitors, you have to look at those things. So we are. It’s something that we’ve been looking at actively.”
The partnership with JHR at the Speedway in May was evidence of this type of relationship already being initiated on a one-off capacity. Before the opportunity to purchase a charter arose, they had explored avenues to create an alliance with an existing team.
“We said: ‘How can we get more competitive at Indy?’” De Bord suggested. “‘How can we lean on the efficiencies of full-time teams? Can we share in the resources and expense and people with another full-time team?’ Even when we were Indy only.
“That’s the way it’s going. I think you’re going to see more technical relationships with other teams throughout the paddock - and I don’t think we’ll be any different.”
It is not like DRR cannot offer their own end of the bargain in any prospective alliance, too. As a team that has only been racing once per year for over a decade, they have consistently shown admirable strength in the Indy 500, as shown recently by Ryan Hunter-Reay almost winning the 2025 running and Daly being firmly in contention two months ago.
De Bord feels the level of performance at the Speedway can “100 percent” create an allure for teams to partner with DRR, both on a human and commercial front, as was already evidenced through shared partners with JHR in May.
“That’s currency in our business,” De Bord said of the Indy 500 savviness. “It’s the crown jewel. It’s the most important race that we have. It’s the cornerstone of our sport.”
How an Indy-only team will evolve
As Selman explains, DRR have 10 full-time employees that have been with the team for over a decade and, in some cases, upwards of two decades. In some ways, the team will be built “based off of those guys” ahead of next season.
But moving away from being a team only specialising in the Indy 500, horizons will also need to be broadened beyond that specific expertise.
“We’re active in identifying talent that we can bring in,” De Bord said. “We have been competitive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but we have 16, 17 other races that we have to go be competitive in too. So we have obvious, perhaps, weakness or deficiencies in the road course and street course part of the season and dampers and development.”
That process of identifying personnel to hire will soon begin in earnest. And not necessarily stemming from DRR needing to initiate anything themselves.
“My phone, as I sit here, is currently blowing up with engineers and mechanics that are wanting to be a part of the programme,” insisted Selman on this week’s media call. “Dennis built a foundation here of people and that’s what we will build on going forward.
“It’s going to start with people first. Before we go hire one individual for this new endeavour, we’re going to make sure the parts and the pieces of the puzzle work together first because it’s people first - and that’s what Dennis was about.”
Any fresh additions are not to say DRR are sacrificing their Indy 500 expertise. That includes a willingness to maintain a two-car effort at the Speedway with an extra entry, given they have run a two-driver team for the 500 every year since 2018.
“Part of our strength and value to the series and to ourselves is how competitive our cars have been at Indy,” De Bord said. “We would like to be two cars next year, but we’ve got to have the right conversations and make sure that’s the right fit for everybody. We’re not ready to make that decision just yet.”
An added scope for partners
Budget season is approaching for DRR - and things will look a little different this year. As part of that, as De Bord describes, they are “active” in discussions with partners.
Partnerships have long been a strength of the team, with some loyal partners having been with the organisation for over a decade. But there have naturally been limitations associated with only running one race, even if that is the sport’s overwhelming marquee event. Expanding back to full-time IndyCar adds a whole new scope to commercial possibilities.
“We’ve had a glass ceiling on us where we could only sell sponsorship around one race,” De Bord explained. “Other teams that are full time have more strategic things at their disposal; they can bundle deliverables with other races. They can activate with their partners year-round but we’re a little bit capped to this point.
“With this opportunity, we have the ability to get more strategic, more creative, more flexible and develop longer-term programmes because we just have more inventory now.”
On a similar note, there is a keenness to explore possible outside investment to help with funding the excess associated with expanding the programme.
“We’re pursuing opportunities [but] we have not finalised anything,” Reinbold said. “We’re not ready to announce anything. The cost of running a full-time IndyCar programme are ones that we haven’t experienced in some time. We’ve got some work cut out for us on that end.”
The immediate & long-term ambitions
It is not lost on anybody at the helm of DRR how much work is ahead. Included in that will be engaging in off-season tests in order to get somewhat up to speed on a non-oval front.
“It’s extremely important - and maybe more so for us to catch up,” Selman said. “There’s obviously regulations that we can only test a certain amount of days. We need to make some smart decisions with the driver, whoever it is that we pick, to accomplish as much as possible this first year. We have a game plan together. We feel pretty confident about it.
“But the whole narrative behind this thing is we know we have an uphill battle from the get-go. Between having a really good team making smart decisions, obviously a really good driver, good sponsorship backing behind us to give us the ability to do whatever we need to do is crucial. But the test plan is out there. We just have to accomplish it.”
The ambitions of the team for next season are measured - at least within the unfamiliar aspect of the year. Because in May, the target remains the same: to win the Indy 500. Outside of that, though, realism is essential.
“Top 12, top 15 in points I think would be a huge success for us,” Selman assessed. “We can’t be unrealistic about what that looks like. There’s a couple tracks that we look at that we’re pretty confident, so maybe a podium, maybe two, three.
“We haven’t really defined exactly what that is. That’s going to all come as part of the puzzle goes together. But nobody here is shying away from [the fact] that we’ve got a huge uphill battle. And we’re ready to approach it.”
Looking further into the future - and beyond results-based goals - there is an ambition for the team to grow beyond its initial one-car setup. If they opt to remain with Chevrolet, the manufacturer has their own charter up for grabs for a team to represent in 2028, which one could speculate may appeal to DRR.
But any further expansion will come after careful consideration and only if it is deemed the right fit for the team.
“We’re open-minded on what’s next,” De Bord outlined. “We’ve got our work cut out for us on this one car and this first charter so we’re not going into this underestimating the commitment it takes to run this and run it at the highest level.
“In the future, not going to be bashful or shy about it, we do want to be a multi-car effort. But the right opportunity has to present itself, it has to be the right fit and we have to be able to do it the right way. If those opportunities present themselves, we’ll have a discussion and look at it and make the right decision for the organisation.”
A long road is ahead. But it is a trip that all at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing are more than willing to embark upon and tackle head-first. And through all of that, Dennis Reinbold - the lifeblood of the race team - will forever be top of mind.
“The fire Dennis lit within all of us has everyone here focused on the goal and we’re just ready to get to work,” Selman rallied. “We’re ready to do our part in carrying on Dennis’ legacy.”
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