SPEEDWAY, INDIANA (MAY 26, 2024) – In a thrilling display in front of 345,000 fans, Conor Daly led 22 laps in the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500, eventually bringing home a 10th place finish in the No. 24 Polkadot Chevrolet for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Cusick Motorsports. Ryan Hunter-Reay was taken out of the race on lap 107 and was classified 26th in the No. 23 VensureHR / 101 Studios / 6666 Ranch Quality Beef Chevrolet
After a four-hour rain delay, fans packed the stands to witness one of the most action-packed Indianapolis 500’s in recent memory. Taking advantage of an early yellow flag to go off-strategy, Conor Daly and the No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold / Cusick Motorsports crew moved to the front of the field on lap 26 thanks to swift pit-work and outright pace.
Despite a yellow flag on lap 28, Daly would remain in the top three after the restart and retook the lead on lap 37, where he remained until the next pit stop. Daly would have two more spells at the front of the field, taking the lead on lap 58 and lap 141, showcasing the team’s strong pace throughout the race. The last stint of the race saw all the drivers at the front of the field on the same pace, and Daly was able to bring home a fantastic 10th place finish in his first outing with Polkadot and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Cusick Motorsports.
Ryan Hunter-Reay’s day was not as easy in the No. 23 VensureHR / 101 Studios / 6666 Ranch Quality Beef Chevrolet. The 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner started 12th and made his way up to 11th on the opening lap, but the rest of the opening stint was a challenge as Hunter-Reay struggled with a handling issue. The Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Cusick Motorsports crew made several tweaks over the next few stints to put the No. 23 car in a better handling window, but Hunter-Reay was hit when attempting an overtake on Scott Dixon on lap 107 and had to retire with a broken steering rack. Hunter-Reay was classified 26th.
“I’m super pumped,” said Conor Daly, who was the biggest mover of the race, improving 19 positions over the course of the 500-mile race. “So thankful to Polkadot and Chevrolet for working with us. We’ve had some trials and tribulations over the last week and a half, and we knew we were faster than where we started and we proved it. We got up front thanks to great strategy from Dennis (Reinbold) and the crew. I love running at the front of this race. For what we had and the time we’ve spent together in this car, we have to be super proud.”
“It was unfortunate to get taken out and a pretty dirty move,” said Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was eliminated from the race on lap 107. “Ultimately, Dixon who we were running with ended up finishing up front, so potentially we could have been there for the fight at the end. We had a hard time at the beginning of the race with a big imbalance, but we made the balance better over the next few stops. All in all a tough day and we just got taken out. This team has done a fantastic job with a Top 12 in qualifying. I know exactly what I need from the car next year, and hope we get the chance to do that.”
“We were in the mix all day long,” said Dennis Reinbold, who made his 25th start as a team owner in the Indianapolis 500 with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. “It felt good to be up front for most of the running, Conor did a great job and our pit stops were really strong all day long. We felt we had a really good shot at winning about 3/4 through the race, but it got a little tough at the end and we got shuffled back on a restart towards the end. We have finished three out of the last four Indianapolis 500’s in the Top 10 and we feel like we come here with a shot to win every year, and we were in the mix again today. It’s been a true team effort across the board. We’re disappointed in what happened to Ryan; we think we would have gotten him to a similar spot as Conor. It just shows you that anything can happen, but we’re proud of the effort and feel like we’ve shown that we can fight for a win yet again.”
“I couldn’t be prouder of the team effort,” said Don Cusick, Founder and CEO of Cusick Motorsports. “From a great qualifying effort to leading more than 10% of the race, we showed what we can do as a group. None of this would be possible without the fantastic group of partners we have with us; We keep building relationships and growing our presence in the sport and I am already excited for the future.”
The 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 saw Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Cusick Motorsports take the fight to the sports’ biggest teams, qualifying in the Top 12 and finishing in the Top 10.
The 2024 edition of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing also saw an influx of new and existing partners to the team, including Polkadot, VensureHR, 101 Studios, 6666 Ranch Quality Beef, Sierra Pacific Windows, WIX Filters, Justice Brothers, Takumi, LAC, MannKind, Corona Steel, CORE Toolboxes, Peterman Brothers, AVAP, Target Motorsports, Hall of Fame Collection, and Elite IndyCar.
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.
