Scheduled guests…
Dennis Reinbold
DRR has run just one car at Indy in recent years, enjoying technical partnerships with Chip Ganassi Racing, Davey Hamilton’s Kingdom Racing and, last year, Harding Racing. However, Reinbold has confirmed he’s going it alone this year and that he’s aiming to run two cars.
He describes it as “highly likely” that Sage Karam will return in one of those seats for his fifth stab at the 500, and his fourth with Dreyer & Reinbold. The shortlist for the second seat in the Chevrolet-powered squad appears to be up for grabs.
Asked if he’s been negotiating with Danica Patrick who
today announced sponsorship from GoDaddy.com, Reinbold told Motorsport.com: “We’ve been speaking with Danica’s people, but we’re not very far down the road right now, so I’m not sure where that stands.
“But Danica was always good at the Speedway so if she can get back to that level after six years away, I’m sure she can be very strong once more and we can give her a very competitive package.
“So yes, Danica is on our list, Sage is definitely on the list, JR Hildebrand is high on the list, and we’ve been speaking to other quality guys like Oriol Servia, too.”
Reinbold said the drivers he’s been speaking to come from both ends of the financial spectrum.
Zach Veach
Zach Veach will race for Andretti Autosport’s IndyCar team this year, after signing a three-year deal with Michael Andretti’s multiple title-winning and Indy 500 winning squad.Veach made his first two IndyCar starts this year, subbing for the injured JR Hildebrand at Ed Carpenter Racing in Barber Motorsports Park, and then making his Indy 500 debut in a third AJ Foyt Racing entry.
However, Veach’s return to the Andretti Autosport squad is something of a homecoming, as AA ran him for two years in USF2000, a year in Pro Mazda, and two years in Indy Lights.
He finished third in the Lights championship with Andretti in 2014, then returned to the series two years later with Belardi Auto Racing finishing fourth. Veach has a total of six victories in Lights.
After years of phone calls, emails and knocking down doors that turned into dead ends, Veach needed a miracle if he was going to enter the 2017 Indy 500. Fittingly enough, he found one at church.With few people left to turn to, Veach called Aaron Brockett, his pastor at Zionsville’s Traders Point Christian.“Do you think there’s anyone I could possibly talk to?“ Veach asked him. “Anyone at all?”
As a matter of fact, Brockett told him, he did.
Brockett gave Veach contact information for Dan Towriss, and Veach didn’t hesitate.He emailed Towriss, and Towriss, then head of the Guggenheim Partners, did what anyone in his position would do when someone he didn’t know was asking him for money.“He said, ‘Who is the kid? And how the heck did he get my information?’ ”
Towriss reached out to Brockett, and Brockett assured him Veach was a friend. So Towriss gave Veach a call, and that was all it took.The two immediately hit it off, and within three days of their first phone conversation, Towriss made Veach’s dream a reality: He was going to compete in the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500.“I called him and said, ‘You’re going to the show,’ ” Towriss remembers.Three days after the 500, and Veach was setting up a meeting with team owner Michael Andretti. A week later, they were sorting out the details of the three year-contract Veach eventually would sign.“I think about how quickly this came together versus how long I’ve been trying, and it’s just unbelievable,” said Veach, who will be backed by Group One Thousand One, a recently rebranded insurance group headed by Towriss.
