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Friday, March 12, 2010

IndyCar Season Preview: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will enter the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season with two full-time cars for Justin Wilson and Mike Conway, and will enter Brazilian rookie Bia Figuereido (Ana Beatriz) in at least the season opener at Sao Paulo.

The team looks to improve on last season's results, when then-rookie Conway had a difficult season and six drivers shared the team's other cars. Conway had a podium finish at Infineon, but that was the highlight of the year for the entire team. The No. 23 car that a handful of drivers shared was frequently lagging off the pace, and the team's two Indianapolis 500-only entries struggled to make the field.

This year, however, things are looking up. Conway, for one, will be more consistent than last year, when he failed to finish eight races and was the second-worst ranked driver to complete the entire schedule. He'll need to improve his oval record, however, as an eighth at Iowa was his lone top-10 finish on the circle tracks.

Wilson, the lone driver to win a race last year not employed by Roger Penske or Chip Ganassi, "liked what he saw" in the team, and chose to leave Dale Coyne Racing to join them for 2010, bringing the funding of Z-Line Designs with him. He's a consistent top-10 driver who contends for wins on most road courses and has begun to improve his oval prowess. He also brings name recognition to the team, something they haven't had since fielding underfunded cars for multiple Indy winners a few years ago.

Wilson should bring a DRR car into the top-10 in series points at the end of the year, and perhaps bring the team its first win since its first start in 2000. Conway should also begin contending for podiums on the road courses, as he will have an ace to learn from this season instead of having to act as de facto lead driver.

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