By Al Stilley
Editor

The Jonathan Byrd family continues their Indianapolis 500 legacy Sunday that began in 1985 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The late family patriarch Jonathan Byrd had his first car sponsorship in late-model Figure-8s at the Indianapolis Speedrome in 1982 before advancing to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with midget-sprint car ace Rich Vogler. The hard-charging driver had a top finish of eighth place in the 500. He died in a sprint car accident in 2016 at Salem Speedway.

Matriarch Ginny Byrd remains as “team mom,” cheerleader, encourager and baker of goodies for the team. Son David Byrd heads the operations for Byrd Racing and family enterprises in the Phoenix area, including four hotels and Jonathan Byrd II continues his involvement in motorsports as president of the Indianapolis Speedrome.

The sons grew up in Greenwood where their parents owned former Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in Johnson County and Jonathan Byrd’s Cafeteria in Greenwood. No longer on the Southside, the family continues the heritage with Jonathan Byrd’s Hospitality and Restaurant Group, including 502 East Event Center in Carmel.

David Byrd has teamed Byrd Racing with veteran 500 team owner Dale Coyne in a Honda-powered entry with Australian driver James Davison for the second time. Byrd came to his first 500 as an 8-year-old boy when his passion for the 500 and open wheel racing was fostered.

“This is something our family can do together,” Byrd said.
He spoke lovingly of what he learned from his father who died in 2009 about the sport that can be an ecstatic to tragic experience.

“Stay in your lane,” Byrd replied immediately. “Make sure you can do what you do well. You cannot second-guess and you have to stay focused on what you can do and let those on your team focus on their duties.

“There’s a lot of outside interference here (500) that you have to ignore,” Byrd continued. “I know I have earned my way to be able to do certain roles. Others here – drivers, crew chiefs, mechanics and crew members have earned it by the sweat of their brow. My role is to put the best program together at Indy.”

He expressed respect for Coyne whom they teamed with at the 500 two years ago.

“He has a top-flight program,” Byrd said. “He, like us, utilizes his business interests to support racing.”

The Byrd family also is involved as a co-entrant in USAC Silver Crown and sprint car races for drivers Chris Windom and Kevin Thomas. Byrd is a co-entrant for Windham in the Indy Lights Freedom 100 Friday at the Speedway.

Byrd is among nine “one-off” efforts and he admits, “It definitely is a challenge.”

They were up for the challenge Saturday during one-day time trials to determine positions 10-30 for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 Sunday. Davison qualified Saturday at 228.273 and will start on the outside of the fifth row.

“This is such a team sport, and when you’re a one-off team, you don’t have the chemistry and momentum that the full-season teams do,” Davison, a second-generation driver said. “For my guys, as a group, to pull that off, I’m just so proud of them. “I feel like I’m on cloud nine.”

Davison also brings a bit of nostalgia to the Coyne-Byrd-Belardi entry by honoring his late grandfather, Gaze Davison, a decorated World War II Spitfire pilot who was honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross three times.

His helmet recognizes Gaze’s heroics with classic RAF colors with the Distinguished Flying Cross and two bars. Gaze Davison also became the first Australian driver in Formula I in 1952 at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The combined Byrd-Coyne-Belardi No. 33 entry picked up a new sponsor, SAFE, a revolutionary brand of antifreeze that is non-toxic.  The company is owned by Bradley Miller who also owns businesses in Phoenix, Arizona.

Byrd’s best moment came in 1996 when Arie Luyendyk, driving for co-entrants John Treadway and Jonathan Byrd, set one-lap (237.498 mph) and four-lap (236.986 mph) that still stand. And later with Vogler-like charger Bryan Clauson, they led the 500 for the first time in 2016.

However, tragedy struck again as Clauson died in a racing accident later that same year.

They did not enter a race car for the 500 in 2017 race but returned last year with Davison to continue a racing legacy that began at the Speedrome and a food service legacy that began in Greenwood.

By Al Stilley
Editor

Longtime Indianapolis 500 team owner Dennis Reinbold was asked point blank earlier this month about the fuel that drives him to return year after year to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I’ve got to win this race,” the Greenwood auto dealership owner replied. “I mean, we need to win, and that’s really it. That’s the only reason we show up – to put the car in victory lane. We work year-round to try to do that and try to improve and get better than we have before.”

The personable team owner is among the early teams in the series that has evolved into the NTT IndyCar Series. Driver Robbie Buhl won for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in 2000 at Orlando, Fla. His team competed in the series until 2013; since then, it has been a multiple-car effort in the Indianapolis 500.

Reinbold returns with drivers Sage Karam for his sixth 500, JR Hildebrand for the second time with the team and ninth overall.

“Sixth times a charm,” Karam, 24 years old, said of his prospects Sunday.

The team’s best finish came in 2012 when Oriol Servia finished fourth for co-owners Reinbold and Panther Racing. Last year, Karam started 24th, worked his way into sixth place on lap 154 but then crashed on the next lap. Hildebrand started 27th and finished 11th.

“A lot of times I’ll sit there through the middle of the race and say, all the things that we worked on in the last year have piled up to this moment, and we’re as prepared and ready to win this race as possible, and for whatever reason we haven’t pulled that off quite as of yet,” Reinbold explained. “Here’s to this being the year.”

Reinbold, a descendent of Duesenberg racing mechanic “Pop” Dryer, strives to return to the IndyCar series fulltime.

“That’s definitely on our radar,” he said hopefully. “We do aspire to be more involved; we believe in IndyCar very, very much. We may have to do part-time to get there. We have to make it work out financially and every other aspect.”

Meanwhile, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has four cars in IMG-sanctioned American Rallycross ARX2 with six different drivers, including Karam. The team won the 2017 championship and was second last year. Internationally, rallycross is to begin racing with electric-powered cars in 2022 overseas.

Owning two racecars among eight “one-off” cars, Reinbold laughed when asked about fulltime teams having guaranteed spots in the Indianapolis 500.

He immediately grinned and said, “It says they’re scared of us.”

Reinbold added, “I don’t think it’s an issue. I mean, we have to beat people to get in the race this year, so it’s going to be the same way going forward.”

Wearing No. 48, the local sponsored SalesForce Chevrolet Dallara driven by Hildebrand is a tribute to famed team owner, car builder and driver Dan Gurney. Bobby Unser provided Gurney with his only 500 win in the 1975 500. Gurney finished second in 1968 and 1969 driving his famed Eagle brand.

Hildebrand qualified late Saturday at 227.908 mph and is on the outside of the seventh row.

Karam tried five times to qualify among positions 10-30 under the new format but wasn’t fast enough so he was among six drivers seeking three last-row positions. After a long rain delay, the former high school wrestler put the No. 24 WIX Filters in the field at 227.740 mph, the fastest among qualifiers for the last row.

“When you do something special, it really feels great,” Karam said of his pressure-filled run. “You look at the guys in the last chance six now. There were big names and big teams. We’re a strong one-off race team.”

They hope to show the strength of Dreyer Reinbold Racing on race day Sunday.

By Al Stilley
Editor

Everything is moving in the right direction for Franklin Township professional stock car driver Jack Dossey III.
The third-generation driver is racing full-time in the ARCA/CRA Super Series that is one tier below the national ARCA Menard’s series. Dossey III, in just five years, has taken solid but well-paced steps up the racing ladder with the NASCAR-owned Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA).

He has earned:

2014 - CRA Late Model Sportsman rookie of the year; won two series championships at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway.
2016 - JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour rookie of the year, sixth in points.
2017 and 2018 - JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour champion, first back-to-back championships in series history.
2018 - Second place in ARCA/CRA Super Series race at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway and raced in two ARCA Menards Series races.

Among his most impressive laurels, the young competitor is a three-time ARCA/CRA most popular driver. He is regarded as “the most approachable” short track driver by speed51.com that ranks him 40th best among the nation’s short track drivers in all types of racing.

This season marks a change in many ways for the Jack Dossey Motorsports driver of the No. 20 Hart’s Auto Parts Chevrolet. He is racing full-time in the ARCA/CRA Super Series and, also for the first time, he is crew chief, too.

“Being the crew chief is a big change, something I was hoping to do in the future but not so sudden,” Dossey III said. “It’s a big feat, not only driving the car, but you lead the race team in all aspects except the finances.”

As driver-crew chief, he doubled his pleasure in winning the first series race of 2019 at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway that locks him into the series’ version of the Chase. He is second in points after four races among the top 10.

“It’s more fun to work with everything and it certainly made it more special to win,” he said.

Equipment-wise, Jack Dossey Motorsports is moving up, too, particularly aligned with Terry Senneker-built chassis from Michigan.

Dossey III is carrying on a family tradition set by grandfather Jack Dossey, father-team owner Jack Dossey Jr., the 2018 Indianapolis Speedrome Hall of Fame inductee, and his brother John Dossey. Dossey Jr. is a multiple-time Speedrome and World Figure-8 three-hour endurance champion.

Dossey Jr., is particularly proud of the loyalty of crew members and sponsors. Southsider Pete Harlow leads the list with 40 years on the crew, followed by Mike Alcorn for 25 years, Kenny Etter for 22 years, sponsor Mike Heimel of Heimel Auctions in Beech Grove for 20 years, Munns Construction for 15 years and, of course, wife Jennifer for 31 years.

Dossey Jr. said, “We’ve had our moments down through the years, but that type of loyalty is unheard of in racing.”

Dossey III’s climb is slow but steady, just the way they want it.

“We could be ready to move up, but that will be tough without financial help,” the young racer said. “It’s a good feeling knowing that your idol and hero is pretty happy with the way everything is going.”
Dad couldn’t be prouder.

“I knew he had the drive for it,” Dossey Jr. said. “He’s accomplished more than I expected.”

The Dossey race team that operates from their headquarters in Franklin Township is proving they can win one step at a time.

Heimel backs Speedrome

Seating for fans at the south end of the Indianapolis Speedrome is known as the Mike Heimel Auction Service family section this season. Beech Grove business owner Heimel is a longtime Speedrome fan. The sponsored section is designated no smoking and no alcohol and offers one of the best viewing areas at the track. Seating is general admission for most events, including high-powered Figure-8 racing each Saturday night.

500 weekend qualifying

Qualifications for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 are Saturday, 11a.m. to 5:50 p.m., and Sunday 12:15 p.m. to 2:15p.m. at the famed oval. Time trials Saturday will establish race-day starting positions 10-30. Drivers among the fastest nine qualify again Sunday in a one-run attempt at the pole and to fill the top nine positions. The last row also will be decided Sunday. Race day is Sunday, May 26.

Final Hoosier Hundred

The final Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds will be contested Thursday, May 23 at 8 p.m. with USAC Silver Crown drivers and cars. The track history goes back to 1903. Bob Sweikert won the inaugural Hoosier Hundred in 1953. The one-mile track surface is to be converted strictly for harness racing and training.