Robbie Buhl eyes Champ Car
QUESTION: I sent Robbie Buhl a message at Robbie Buhl Racing and got a reply. Is he starting his own team? (Ryan, Noblesville, Ind.)
ANSWER: No, I don’t think so. But don’t be surprised if Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is in Champ Car next season with an Indianapolis 500 component. Champ Car seems to be cheaper right now, and Buhl and Dennis Reinbold are being too quiet about their sponsors to suggest they’re staying solely in the IRL. And just so we’re clear on this: the IRL cannot afford to be losing ANY team, much less the smaller ones. Curt Cavin, Indy Star
11/07/06 With Stoddart now almost certain to buy the RuSPORT team, any notion that he will buy Dreyer & Reinbold goes out the door. The team might still move to Champ Car, however, but we still suspect Tony George, who is hurting badly for car count for his Indy Car series in 2007 (16 at best right now), will find a way to keep them in the fold.
11/04/06 A reader asks, Dear AutoRacing1.com, What's the chances Dreyer & Reinbold will really move to Champ Car and could the team that Stoddart might buy into be this team? Amy Wright, Los Angeles
Dear Amy, We expect that Stoddart will buy into an Indianapolis based team, which Dreyer & Reinbold are, and it was interesting that the team picked up both engineers that were laid off from Fernandez Racing despite not having any concrete plans or sponsors for next year. Although the team has no Champ Car experience, the two engineers that they picked up do, and with the new Champ Car coming in next year, everyone is starting from a clean sheet of paper, so now would be the time to make the move.
However, with that said, Dreyer and Reinbold is an "IRL team" and one has to wonder whether them coming to Road America to meet with Champ Car officials was a sincere effort to switch to Champ Car, or a ploy to extract more money from Tony George's bank account to keep them in the fold. Mark C.
11/01/06 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced the hiring of Fernandez Racing's engineers Tuesday, the latest sign that Adrian Fernandez's Indianapolis-based team might not return to the Indy Racing League next season.
Fernandez co-owner Tom Anderson said his staff has been whittled to a bare minimum because the team lacks a primary sponsor. Among the layoffs were veteran engineers John Dick and Chris Finch, who were hired by Dreyer & Reinbold, another Indianapolis-based team.
Dennis Reinbold said his one-car team is in better financial shape, but he is not ready to say it will return to the IRL, which it joined in 2000. Reinbold and partner Robbie Buhl are considering a move to the Champ Car World Series.
"Right now, we just don't have enough information," Reinbold said. "The only thing we're doing is building up our team." Indy Star
09/22/06 Seen at Road America Thursday was Ryan Hunter-Reay and Robby Gordon here participating in the Fred Stratton (Briggs & Stratton) Annual Track Day. Also spotted Robbie Buhl and his Dryer & Reinbold entourage thoroughly eyeing the new Panoz Champ Car this morning. Honda PR man Dan Layton was spotted renewing old acquaintances……..Spotted the Discovery Channel filming the CTE Racing-HVM team for a documentary to be aired next year.