INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dennis Reinbold, whose Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team fielded cars in the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar for more than 25 years. has died. He was 65.
Reinbold died Saturday, surrounded by his family, his racing team and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway said in statements Sunday. No additional information was released.
The Indianapolis-based DRR team’s best finish in the Indy 500 was a fourth in 2012. The team was in contention with 31 laps remaining in 2025 before 2012 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay ran out of fuel. The team led the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in four of the last six races, and all 53 cars the team entered in the race had qualified in starting fields. Last month, the DRR's two entrants finished 12th and 22nd.
“We are heartbroken to share the news that our owner, leader, and friend, Dennis Reinbold, has passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family,” the DRR team said. “He built a successful family of automobile dealerships across the state, and he loved the community of Indianapolis that gave him so much in return. That same devotion fueled his passion for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — its history and the relentless pursuit of an Indy 500 win drove him every day. We can think of no better way to honor Dennis than to chase a victory in the 111th Running of the Indianapolis 500.”
Reinbold started DRR in 1999 and the team name was a nod to his family’s racing heritage. His grandfather, Floyd “Pop” Dreyer, was a motorcycle racer who went on to be a crew member and chief mechanic on the Duesenberg driven by Benny Shoaff and Babe Stapp at Indianapolis in 1927.
The Dreyer & Reinbold team started racing full time in the IndyCar series in 2000 and, with Robbie Buhl driving, won the season-opening race at Walt Disney World. That remains the team’s only victory in the series, along with two second-place finishes in 2010 and four thirds between 2001-2012, when it last ran full time in the series.
Dreyer & Reinbold ran just five series races in 2013 before focusing solely on the Indy 500 from 2014 to last month’s race. The team did run four IndyCar races in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Two-time Indy champion Al Unser Jr, and fellow Indianapolic 500 winners Buddy Lazier, (1996), Buddy Rice (2004), and Simon Pagenaud (2019) all raced for DRR, as well as JR Hildebrand, Townsend Bell, Conor Daly and IndyCar series champion Paul Tracy.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
CA Is Burning said:
CA Is Burning said:
CA Is Burning said:
suebeckmeyer said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.