The First IndyCar Charter Has Sold
For the first time in the short history of the charter era of the NTT IndyCar Series, a charter has been sold. No, it’s not to PREMA or some new team you’ve never heard of. Instead, it’s going to a very familiar name – Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (DRR).
I remember when Dennis Reinbold passed away a little over a month ago, I wondered if we would ever see that team at the Indianapolis 500 ever again. I knew that the remaining owners talked about the team carrying on, but I secretly had my doubts. When we went to Road America the next week, I remember talking to several people saying that the team was looking to buy a charter and enter the series full-time. Again, I was skeptical – but I kept my mouth shut.
This past weekend in Nashville, it was pretty common knowledge around the paddock that DRR was about to purchase one of three charters at Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL) and that RLL would scale down top a two-car effort; while DRR would become the only one-car team in the series for the 2027 season. Quite honestly, I thought that it was now a current rule that a team had to run at least two cars. As it turns out, I was wrong. In fact, I’ve been wrong about a lot regarding this transaction. This all goes to show how little I really know. Keep that in mind later in this post as I read between the lines and try to predict what is next for the two teams involved.
After Road America, my thought was that DRR would buy into Juncos Hollinger Racing. Ricardo Juncos is in the process of selling out his share of the team. They are both Chevy teams, with each needing additional capital. The two teams could merge and could take on the historic name of Dreyer & Reinbold for rfe-branding. There had already been talks of Juncos Hollinger re-establishing the relationship they once had with Arrow McLaren. It all made sense
When I was talking to people about the possibility of all of this taking place, I assumed that if it was true, the one-car team of DRR would have to have a partner – much like what Meyer Shank Racing has with Chip Ganassi Racing. Once again, my mind went to Juncos Hollinger or ECR, since they are both Chevy teams.
But I was on the lunchtime Zoom press conference on Wednesday with Derek Reinbold and all of the executives with DRR; including Brett DeBord, son of DRR co-founder Eric DeBord. When DeBord was asked if they would be staying with Chevy or moving to Honda – DeBord hesitated and gave a non-answer by saying they were looking at all options, but were not in a position to announce anything yet. Hmmm…Remember, a Honda engine just became available with the sale of the Rahal charter.
When DeBord was later asked if they would be partnering with another team, he enthusiastically gave all the reasons why that would be such a good idea. When asked who it might be, he clammed up and gave the same non-committal “We aren’t ready to announce at this time.”
When asked about a two-car team for the Indianapolis 500, he opened up a bit by saying they had run two cars for the 500 since 2018, but stopped short of committing to that for 2027. When asked about potential drivers, DeBord said they will be evaluating all available drivers.
There were not a ton of facts coming out of the press conference. Marshall Pruett of Racer.com has reported that the rumored sales price of the charter is around $13 million, but he stressed that was not confirmed.
Based on what I heard this past weekend, and what I witnessed on Wednesday’s Zoom meeting – what was said, what was not said, reading faces, body language and connecting some dots, I have an idea where some of this is going – at least I think I do. This is pure speculation on my part, but I don’t think I’m too far off. But remember what I said earlier – my suspicions back in June were so far off, it’s embarrassing to event think about it.
My guess is that Dreyer & Reinbold will become a Honda team and partner with Rahal Letterman Lanigan. There was just too much love and sunshine mentioned for them to not something in place already. It will be much like when Harding Racing partnered with Andretti Autosport back in 2018. The difference is, Harding did not have too much to offer the Andretti team. DRR has a much better Indianapolis 500 package than RLL does. They can actually share information to help the Rahal cars that have struggled mightily at the 500 for the past several years.
Some have speculated that Mick Schumacher will slide over to DRR and drive for them in 2027, as Rahal becomes a two-car team. I don’t think that will happen. My guess is that Conor Daly, who has already had a couple of stints with DRR (including this past May) will be the full-time driver for DRR in 2027.
So what happens at Rahal? Unless Graham Rahal retires at the end of the season, which I don’t think is going to happen, they have some decisions to make. Second-year driver Louis Foster has one more year remaining on his contract. While some are kind in describing his tenure at Rahal as inconsistent – I think he has been a bust. The worst thing about that is that it doesn’t seem to bother him. He seems more concerned about attracting attention with his so-called fashion and quirky sense of humor, than he does honing his craft. To me, he has grown tiresome.
With Mick Schumacher, he proved in Formula One that he is not his dad and never will be. Does that make him a bad driver? Absolutely not! He is just coming off of his best career finish in IndyCar – an eighth-place finish at Nashville, a short oval. That was no fluke. He did that on speed and working his way through the field.
Schumacher has struggled his rookie season, and is currently twenty-fourth among twenty-five full-time drivers. Only Sting Ray Robb is ranked below Schumacher. But Schumacher has never seen any of these tracks before, and is living in the US for the first time in his life. He has a more serious approach than his teammate and has shown progress in more recent races. His teammate, by the way, is currently ranked eighteenth in points, after finishing last season twenty-third in points.
Schumacher already had some financial backing, but he had a new sponsor at Nashville in Vanda Pharmaceuticals. They will be on Schumacher’s car for three of the final six races this season.
Strangely enough, I am not expecting a call from Graham or Bobby Rahal asking for my advice on which driver to keep. But if they did, without hesitation, I would tell them to keep Mick Schumacher and jettison Louis Foster. Foster may be talented but I get the impression his heart isn’t in it. I think he has too many other things on the side to occupy his time. While Schumacher doesn’t have the talent of his famous father and may not even quite as much as Foster, he seems driven to improve and takes things more seriously.
There is a difference in taking your job seriously and taking yourself seriously. Schumacher seems to understand the task at hand and that he needs to get better. But he laughs, keeps things lighthearted and doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously at all. Whether we are talking about a teammate on a racing team or a co-worker in the work place – if given the choice between Mick Schumacher or Louis Foster, I know who I would want.
Most probably don’t agree with me. I get the impression some have taken joy from watching Schumacher struggle this season, just because his father was a seven-time F1 World Champion. I was in the room a few times back in May when Schumacher was brought in for press conferences. I found him extremely pleasant and personable, even if he was a bit reserved. I think once he gets through this season and learns the tracks, he will be much improved next season. And just remember – none of the Rahal cars have been setting the world on fire this season.
So, to sum up my projections for 2027; Dreyer & Reinbold will switch from Chevy to Honda for next season. They will also partner up with Rahal Letterman Lanigan for technical assistance. Conor Daly will be their full-time driver for 2027, while they will run a second car for the Indianapolis 500. Rahal Letterman Lanigan will have to scale down to a two-car team. One driver will have to go, and conceivably – both could be let go. But I think Mick Schumacher will be retained, while Louis Foster will need to seek employment elsewhere.
You can probably make a lot of money by betting against each one of these scenarios I just described. We’ll see.
George Phillips
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