Dennis Reinbold, the owner of IndyCar and rallycross team Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, has passed away. He was 65 years old.

The team announced the news on Sunday, while a report from RACER indicated he had been battling cancer. While his condition improved, it eventually worsened again prior to his passing.

“Dennis was a proud son of Indianapolis,” DRR stated. “He built a successful family of automobile dealerships across the state, and he loved the community of Indianapolis that gave him so much in return. That same devotion fueled his passion for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway—its history and the relentless pursuit of an Indy 500 win drove him every day. We can think of no better way to honor Dennis than to chase a victory in the 111th Running of the Indianapolis 500.

“We ask race fans to join us in remembering the man, his passion for our sport, and the memories we shared.”

DRR was founded in 2000, the name being a combination of the namesake owner and his motorcycle-racing and mechanic grandfather Floyd “Pop” Dreyer. The team won its debut race in the 2000 IRL season opener at Disney World with Robbie Buhl, but was never able to return to Victory Circle since. Buhl would finish eighth in points that year, DRR’s best championship placement and the first in a pair of top-ten efforts alongside Buddy Rice’s ninth in 2007.

Since 2014, the team has mainly been an Indianapolis 500-only program. At this year’s race in May, Conor Daly finished 12th and Jack Harvey in 22nd.

Reinbold expanded into Global Rallycross in 2016, where Cabot Bigham won the GRC Lites title in the team’s first year. DRR also fielded Ford Fiestas for Alex Keyes and Tanner Whitten that year, retaining the former for 2017 as he finished fifth in the standings while Travis Pecoy was third and Christian Brooks in second.

After GRC died, DRR migrated to Americas Rallycross and its Lites equivalent ARX2. Brooks was the 2018 runner-up, while teammates included Bigham, Matt Carpoff, and Pecoy. In 2019, the team’s IndyCar guys Sage Karam and JR Hildebrand tried their hands at rallycross, and Karam even won at Mid-Ohio. Cole Keatts and Martell were respectively second and third in the 2019 points followed by Gray Leadbetter in fifth, Karam sixth, Hildebrand ninth, and Lane Vacala in tenth.

Bigham continued to race for the team when Nitro Rallycross debuted in 2021, this time in the premier Supercar class alongside Tanner Foust. The latter would place sixth in points. Meanwhile, Karam racked up five wins in NEXT for a runner-up finish. Vacala was fifth, while others to race for the team included Martell, John Holtger, and Simon Olofssson.

When Nitro RX—later Nitrocross—debuted Group E, DRR immediately went on a tear. Robin Larsson won both Group E titles in the while Andreas Bakkerud and Fraser McConnell also recorded race wins for the team across the two seasons of existence. DRR partnered up with Dodge for the 2024–25 season, which placed Larsson and company in branded Dodge Hornets. Larsson was leading the points while Bakkerud swept the final Nitrocross race weekend when the series was shuttered.

Despite rallycross’ instability, Reinbold remained committed to the discipline. To this end, his team became an official series partner of the new RallyX Americas, which is set to debut later in June at Crandon. Under their deal, DRR is overseeing logistics and streamlining operations for teams.

“RallyX joins the motorsport community in mourning the passing of Dennis Reinbold, owner of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing,” reads a statement from the series. “Dennis has been a major supporter of rallycross in North America for more than a decade, and he was a key part of bringing the forthcoming RallyX Americas season to fruition. Our thoughts are with his family and friends and the entire Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team.”

Featured image credit: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing