SPEEDWAY, INDIANA (MAY 24, 2024) – Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Cusick Motorsports have completed the final practice for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500. The two-hour ‘Carb Day’ session officially kicked off the race weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In a session that saw a total of 2,721 laps turned by the field of 33, maximizing track time was critical in fine-tuning the cars ahead of the 200-lap race on Sunday. Conor Daly in the No. 24 Polkadot Chevrolet completed 74 laps with a best speed of 224.253 MPH, and Ryan Hunter-Reay in the No. 23 VensureHR / 101 Studios / 6666 Ranch Quality Beef Chevrolet completed 63 laps with a best speed of 225.124 MPH.
Conor Daly, driver of the No. 24 DRR/Cusick Motorsports Entry
“We did a lot of laps, and a lot of great pit stops today,” said Conor Daly, who will make his 11th Indianapolis 500 start this weekend. “We got a lot of information and now we need to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and show up on race day with a perfect setup. Everyone’s done a great job to get us to this point and now it’s our job to execute on race day.”
Ryan Hunter-Reay, driver of the No. 24 DRR/Cusick Motorsports Entry
“Today was a good opportunity to baseline the car in very different conditions to Monday,” said Ryan-Hunter Reay, who will become a 15-time Indy 500 starter on Sunday. “We were able to get the car within a very similar balance. I was really happy with it and we were really just fine-tuning some understeer out of the car in heavy traffic. We have some further adjustments up our sleeve, but I think all in all, a very positive day.”
“We tried some things on the No. 24 car today that we weren’t terribly happy with,” said Dennis Reinbold, who will enter his 25th year as the team owner of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing at the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. “With the weather during practice week, we just haven’t had the same amount of time on track as we have in the past, so we had to take some swings. We may go back to what we discovered on Monday where we had a very good car. So we’ll adapt and go from there.”
“The energy at IMS today has been fantastic,” said Don Cusick, who will be making his fourth appearance as a co-entrant at the Indianapolis 500 this year. “The team is executing at a very high level and I believe we have all the pieces of the puzzle to move forward on Sunday. The race weekend is finally here and we’re ready to go.”
Tomorrow’s ‘Legends Day’ will see an all-driver autograph session and public drivers meeting at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, followed by the Indy 500 Parade in downtown Indianapolis. The green flag for the Indianapolis 500 will fly at 12:30pm EST on Sunday, May 26th on NBC.
About Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing was founded in 1999 by Indianapolis car dealer Dennis Reinbold. The legacy of the Dreyer and Reinbold family dates back to the 1920s with Reinbold’s grandfather, the legendary Floyd “Pop” Dreyer, a former Indian factory motorcycle racer. Dreyer served as a crewman and mechanic on the famed Duesenberg team. Dreyer went on to build Indy 500 cars in the 1930s, many of which started on the front row. In addition, Dreyer constructed championship-winning sprint cars and midgets. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing captured its first win in 2000 with driver Robbie Buhl at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, FL, and has fielded a variety of drivers including Al Unser Jr., Buddy Rice, Buddy Lazier, Sarah Fisher, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and J.R. Hildebrand. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has successfully qualified 48 drivers for the Indy 500 in its history. DRR competed in Rallycross for the first time in 2015 and captured the 2016 Lites rallycross championship. The team competed in the Nitro RX series with a 1-2-3 Championship win in the 2022-23 Nitro RX Group E class with Robin Larrson, Andreas Bakkerud, and Fraser McConnell. The following year, the team won the championship for the second year in a row with Robin Larsson in the newly rebranded, Nitrocross series
About Cusick Motorsports
Cusick Motorsports, founded in 2021 by entrepreneur Don Cusick, was created to make the racing industry more accessible to all. Cusick Motorsports creates bespoke programs for its partners and creates unforgettable experiences that help drive meaningful relationships and business. The threshold for getting into the industry has not been easy for most individuals and companies. As an entrepreneur in the healthcare industry for over 40 years, Don Cusick saw the opportunity to make the motorsports industry more accessible for all, and Cusick Motorsports was founded.