The midway point of the IndyCar Wrap-Ups brings us to the part-time teams, and this was a difficult season for the part-time teams. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and DragonSpeed had each planned significant part-time schedules. D&R had planned on running four races and DragonSpeed was going to run five. Those plans didn't necessarily work out. D&R was able to run four races, but two were different from its original schedule. DragonSpeed made only one start and it wasn't even going to run that one race.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
After spending the last six seasons as an Indianapolis 500-only entrant, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing had committed to an expanded program for 2020, originally planning on running St. Petersburg, the two Indianapolis races and Toronto. The pandemic shook up that plan, but the team did contest all four races held at Indianapolis this season.
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| It was a tough year for Sage Karam |
Sage Karam
This was a little longer of a schedule for Karam. He got to run four races and for the first time he got to compete on the IMS road course. However, more racing did not lead to better results.
What objectively was his best race?
Karam had two finishes of 23rd, one in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and in the first Harvest Grand Prix race.
What subjectively was his best race?
Karam had two finishes of 23rd, one in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and in the first Harvest Grand Prix race.
What subjectively was his best race?
None of Karam's four starts were all that great. He was lapped in all the races. He never started better than 21st. I am not sure what is better out of his two 23rd-place finishes, starting and finishing 23rd or qualifying 21st and then dropping two spots, one of the spots was a gift because Marco Andretti lost his engine late and was the only retirement, meaning Karam's day is artificially better than it is of minus-two spots on paper.
What objectively was his worst race?
Going along with his two finishes of 23rd, Karam had two finishes of 24th, one in the Indianapolis 500 and the other in the second Harvest Grand Prix race.
What subjectively was his worst race?
What objectively was his worst race?
Going along with his two finishes of 23rd, Karam had two finishes of 24th, one in the Indianapolis 500 and the other in the second Harvest Grand Prix race.
What subjectively was his worst race?
In the Indianapolis 500, Karam did go from 31st to 24th, but here is what happened to the ten cars behind him:
James Davison: Wheel catches on fire after four laps.
Marcus Ericsson: Accident
Dalton Kellett: Accident
Oliver Askew: Accident
Conor Daly: Accident
Álex Palou: Accident
Alexander Rossi: Accident
Ed Carpenter: Contact on lap one with Zach Veach damaged Carpenter's suspension and forced Carpenter to pit lane for repairs, but he continued in the race and finished 13 laps down.
Spencer Pigot: Accident with six laps to go while on the lead lap.
Karam was the last place finisher for all intended purposes. Worse yet, the Indianapolis 500 is the one race he has regularly done over the last five seasons. He had never run the IMS road course prior to this year and D&R had not run road course races since 2013. The struggles in those three races are understood. Karam has been running the Indianapolis 500 enough that he should do a little better than this. In his last six Indianapolis 500 starts, his average finish is 26.833 and he has not finished on the lead lap in any of those six starts.
Sage Karam's 2020 Statistics
Championship Position: 29th (32 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 24.25
Average Finish: 23.5
Championship Position: 29th (32 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 24.25
Average Finish: 23.5
DragonSpeed
DragonSpeed had big plans for 2020 to run a handful of races. However, the pandemic significantly altered its season and it appeared the team was not going to contest any races this year. When there was a late scramble for a 33rd entry for the Indianapolis 500, DragonSpeed was there to save the day.
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| Ben Hanley came back and ran one more IndyCar race |
Ben Hanley
After getting a taste of IndyCar last year, Hanley returned in DragonSpeed's late addition to the Indianapolis 500 entry list. Hanley had won two IMSA LMP2 races prior to his Indianapolis return, including a class victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona.
What objectively was his best race?
Hanley went from 33rd on the grid to 23rd in the Indianapolis 500.
What subjectively was his best race?
Hanley went from 33rd on the grid to 23rd in the Indianapolis 500.
What subjectively was his best race?
The most important thing for Hanley was he saw the checkered flag. Yes, he was two laps down, but his only other oval start was the Indianapolis 500 the year before, and he dropped out of that race after 54 laps because of a driveshaft failure.
What objectively was his worst race?
Just to change this up, because Hanley only did one race, I think the worst part of DragonSpeed's program was the late notice it had to be the 33rd entry, and how behind the eight ball the team was, and that was not the team's fault.
DragonSpeed's car was supposed to go to the Top Gun Racing outfit, which was supposed to be for RC Enerson. However, Top Gun Racing pulled out after it was announced spectators would not be allowed at this year's race. The scramble for the 33rd entry led to DragonSpeed piecing together an entry but missed the first two days of practice.
The team didn't have to worry about being bumped, but it couldn't even do an Indianapolis 500 entry right because of the short notice. Again, it was not the team's fault. DragonSpeed did extraordinary well for the circumstance it was in.
What subjectively was his worst race?
What subjectively was his worst race?
This was supposed to be a big year for DragonSpeed, as it planned to enter five races, St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Indianapolis, Texas and Mid-Ohio. Unfortunately, for the second consecutive year, DragonSpeed's plans were significantly altered. Last year, the team did not compete after Indianapolis because of visa issues keeping crew members from traveling from Europe, who worked on the team's European Le Mans Series LMP2 program.
I wanted to see what DragonSpeed could do, and I was excited that the team could have given at least one or two other drivers a shot. Hanley was only confirmed for St. Petersburg, and Hanley was going to have a few ELMS conflicts. I thought Colin Braun was a possible driver.
We didn't get to see any of that, and we will not see that in 2021.
Ben Hanley's 2020 Statistics
Championship Position: 33rd (14 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 33.0
Average Finish: 23.0
Championship Position: 33rd (14 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 33.0
Average Finish: 23.0
An Early Look Ahead
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Sage Karam are both suggesting they will divorce before 2021.
I think that might be best. Karam has to drive more than the Indianapolis 500. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing wants to return to full-time competition, but it is big step up from Indianapolis-only entry to full-time IndyCar. This is a much different IndyCar series than when D&R was last full-time, and it is another planet from when D&R regularly field two cars in the Indy Racing League days.
Teams have gone from part-timer to full-timer in the last few seasons. Meyer Shank Racing has successfully made that transition and has run well. Harding Racing did it but required a lot of assistance and eventually absorption into Andretti Autosport. Carlin wasn't part-time, but it went from Indy Lights into IndyCar. For those three teams, there is also Juncos Racing, which dabbled in IndyCar but could not expand into a series regular despite Road to Indy success.
In its current state, IndyCar is too big for D&R in D&R's current form. For D&R to be a full-time team, it kind of has to reshape what it is. MSR and Carlin were at least regular race teams. Harding Racing was an entirely new organization and nearly collapsed after its first full season. I know D&R has fielded rallycross teams since it last competed in IndyCar full-time, but D&R is closer to Harding than MSR and Carlin and even DragonSpeed.
MSR has used partnerships, first with Andretti Autosport, then with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, and then back to Andretti, to acclimate to IndyCar. That could be D&R's way back into IndyCar. The Chevrolet options are Team Penske, Arrow McLaren SP, Ed Carpenter Racing, Carlin and A.J. Foyt Racing. The first two Chevrolet organizations are likely not interested in a partnership with a small team. The other three teams are small organizations without that many resources to properly aid a partnership. Maybe an ECR/D&R pairing could help both organizations, but that might sound great on paper and not work in practice.
DragonSpeed is ending its IndyCar experimentation after two seasons and we never really got to see what this program could do.
I liked that DragonSpeed was taking it slow and trying to run a part-time program, similar to what Meyer Shank Racing did. I liked that DragonSpeed planned to mix it up, running some road courses and a few ovals. I didn't think Hanley was the team's long-term answer as a driver, but he got a shot and did respectable for a man who was out of single-seater racing for nearly a decade.
I was hopeful DragonSpeed could run St. Petersburg, Barber, Texas, Indianapolis, Road America and the IMS road course race with the NASCAR weekend in 2021 and get a true sample of the IndyCar season. I was hopeful the team would try a few different drivers. It is sad to see the team move on.
DragonSpeed was trying to balance a European Le Mans Series program with IndyCar and have a European-based crew run an American program. That cost the team in 2019 because crew members had visa issues and cut its 2019 plans in half. The pandemic killed all regular trans-Atlantic travel and if it wasn't for a vacant 33rd spot on the Indianapolis 500 entry list, DragonSpeed was not going to run an IndyCar race in 2020.
I wish DragonSpeed could have figured something out and put more roots in the ground here in the United States, but this is not a great time for expansion into any series. Mike Shank wanted to be in IndyCar in 2012 and he had to wait five years before he could make his first attempt as an Indianapolis one-off in partnership with Andretti Autosport. That could be DragonSpeed's future. Just because it did not work out this time doesn't mean the team will not consider a second attempt in the future.
Losing DragonSpeed hurts, because Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is the last part-time team standing, and D&R is already questioning its future IndyCar involvement. IndyCar needs a few part-time teams to fill out the Indianapolis 500 entry list and occasionally show up for some other events, but they are becoming an endangered species and might not be able to survive in the current climate.
