DRR is Ready to Tackle Texas Motor Speedway

4 Jun 2010

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is ready to conquer Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. After coming off of a bittersweet result at the Indianapolis 500 last weekend, DRR is prepared to continue its momentum around the 1.5-mile oval this weekend.

This year will mark Justin Wilson's third time to compete at Texas Motor Speedway. The Brit had an extremely strong performance last weekend where he started 11th, led for 11 laps and finished the highest in his Indy 500 career in 7th position.  

With two 2nd place finishes under his belt so far this season, Justin Wilson is ready to continue his oval momentum. In 2008, he qualified 23rd and finished in 27th place after making contact and in 2009 he started 17th and finished 15th after making contact with the wall. Since joining the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2008, Wilson has recorded six top-10 finishes (2008: Kansas-9th, Milwaukee-7th, Richmond-7th, 2009: Chicagoland-10th, Homestead-10th, 2010: Indianapolis-7th) on ovals. He has led an oval twice. The first time was for five laps at Kansas in 2008 and just recently at the Indianapolis 500 for 11 laps. Wilson's best qualifying position on an oval was 8th position at Kentucky in 2009.To date, Wilson has had a strong showing with his new team. The veteran earned DRR's best result since team co-owner, Robbie Buhl, won in 2000 at Walt Disney World Speedway, as he came home with a 2nd place result for the organization in St. Petersburg, Florida in the IZOD IndyCar Series second round. Wilson has also qualified on the second row three times this year (Brazil-3rd, St. Petersburg-4th, Long Beach-3rd). He currently sits sixth in the championship with 167 points, just 60 behind points leader Will Power.  

The team announced yesterday that Tomas Scheckter will replace injured Mike Conway and get behind the wheel of the No. 24 Roll Coater entry for Saturday's race. Last Sunday, Conway, was involved in a horrific crash during the 94th running of the Indianapolis 500. With one lap to go, the Brit collided with Ryan Hunter-Reay, who had slowed to conserve fuel in order to finish the race. Unfortunately, due to the varying speeds between the two cars resulted in Conway's car launching into the catch-fence and disintegrating as it ran along the track. Mike was airlifted and transported to Methodist hospital. He had surgery Sunday night to repair fractures to his lower left leg. He also has a soft tissue injury to his lower left leg and is anticipated to have another surgical procedure later this week. Additionally, Conway has a compression fracture of one of his thoracic vertebrae and is being fitted for a back brace, which he will wear for three months and will prevent him from racing. He is in great excellent spirits and is on track to a speedy recovery.  

Scheckter is ready to get back to Texas and continue what he has started at the famous track. With 11 starts for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing under his belt, the South African is ready to visit Texas for the 11th time. He has had much success at the 1.5 mile oval with two top-ten finishes (1-2005, 10-2006), led 288 laps in ten starts at the track, and his best start was first in 2005 when he won from being on the pole. Scheckter has recorded three poles at Texas Motor Speedway, making a career total of eight pole positions, all of which were on ovals (2002-Texas 1,Kansas, Michigan; 2003-Texas 1, Michigan; 2005-Homestead, Texas, Nashville). He has also won twice, both on ovals (Michigan, 2002; Texas, 2005). His best result last season was sixth at Iowa. He also finished in 8th place at Chicagoland Speedway making it his second top-10 finish of the 2009 season. Scheckter competed last weekend with the team last weekend in the Indianapolis 500 where he led 5 laps, started 20th and finished 15th.  

As Dreyer & Reinbold Racing heads into the seventh round of the season, they have some exciting things to note. Roll Coater will return to the No. 24 machine and Charter Communications will be back on the No. 22 car for this weekend.  

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will be on track for the Firestone 550 in Fort Worth, Texas on June 5th. The race telecast will air live on Saturday, June 5th at 8:00 pm (CT) on VERSUS. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145, and Sirius channel 211. For more updates on the team, please visit www.dreyerreinboldracing.com.  

What they have to say about the Firestone 550:  

Justin Wilson, No. 22 Charter: "Looking back we had a great Indy 500. Myself, Mike and Tomas all led the race and there were a lot positives that we can take out of that. I think that the entire team did a fantastic job and we had great pit stops. It was a lot of fun. Obviously, mixed emotions after the race because I got my best finish at the Indianapolis 500, but witnessing Mike's horrific crash was terrible. Everyone was concerned and still is about Mike, but it's good to know that he is okay. I went to visit him in the hospital and I'm wishing him a quick recovery and hopefully he will be back with us soon. I'm looking forward to this weekend. It was a short turn around. Texas is a tough track because it's very fast. It's fairly straight forward, but that means that we all race so close together. You race inches a part three wide and it's a pretty crazy race. One of the difficulties about Texas is judging what's going to happen, because the car is very light in down force and you are floating around on the track. In some ways it's almost like you are flying and not driving. It's a very stressful race from inside the car when you are further back in the pack. The key is to be closer to the front where it's a bit calmer and safer and then it's a much better evening. It's going to be tough one, but we learned some things at Indy and I'm hoping that's going to translate. Hopefully we can get another top-ten finish."  

Tomas Scheckter, No. 24 Roll Coater: "Firstly, I'm upset about seeing my friend and roommate for most of last year get in such a terrible accident and my thoughts are with him. I am happy that the team has chosen me to step in for him this weekend while he recovers. I have won at Texas, earned two pole positions and led over 200 laps at the track. I always love going there and look forward to the weekend."