Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Las Vegas Thursday report

DREYER & REINBOLD RACING HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION DURING PRACTICE FOR THE INDYCAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY HONDA

Ana Beatriz, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Photo by: Ted Rossino

Las Vegas, Nevada (October 13, 2011) - Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is definitely headed in the right direction as they practiced for the INDYCAR World Championships Presented by Honda at Las Vegas Motor Speedway today. Piloting the team's cars were Ana Beatriz (No. 24 Ipiranga), Townsend Bell (No. 22 Dad's Root Beer) and Davey Hamilton (No. 11 HP).

Today marked the first time that Ana Beatriz turned laps at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Brazilian had the opportunity to test a number of things during today's practice. She was the 25th fastest and clocked a fast lap speed of 221.271 mph and completed a total of 80 laps.

The Brazilian has ten oval starts to tuck under her belt. Her best qualifying result on an oval was this year in Milwaukee where she started 11th on the grid. Bia's best finish on an oval was in New Hampshire this year when she finished 14th. Beatriz secured her best IZOD IndyCar career qualifying result in Sonoma with a 10th place starting spot. In July of this year, she earned her best IZOD IndyCar result in Toronto, Canada when she brought the car home in 11th place.

After more than 10 years of not competing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Davey Hamilton proved today that he was ready to get back to Las Vegas and settle some unfinished business. The Idaho native got back behind the wheel of the No. 11 HP "Everybody On" car. He had a very productive practice, as the No 11 crew continued to improve the car throughout the session. He completed 26 laps and was the 28th fastest with a recorded fast lap speed of 220.577 mph.

Hamilton ran with the team this year for the Indianapolis 500 and at Texas Motor Speedway. He has a lot of history at the 1.5-mile oval. In 1992, he moved to Las Vegas and was an integral part of the building of the circuit. He has competed at the track five times. Out of those five starts, he finished in the top-10 once. In 1996, he started 5th and finished 11th, in 1997 he started 2nd and finished 7th, in 1998 he started 13th and finished 29th, in 1999 he started 26th and finished 13th, and in 2000 he started 28th and finished 20th.

Townsend Bell, who is filling in for the injured Justin Wilson, got behind the wheel of the No. 22 Dad's Root Beer machine today. The California native drove for the team two weeks ago at Kentucky Speedway, where he earned an 11th place finish. Bell drove for DRR for seven races in 2008. He was the perfect choice for the Indianapolis-based squad as he brings vast experience to the table. He got his start in go-karts before working his way up to the Barber Dodge Pro Series and then onto the Indy Lights championship where he earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2000 and the Indy Lights championship in 2001. From Indy Lights, he went onto compete in the CART series for nine races and the in FIA Formula 3000 in 2003, earning tests with BAR-Honda and Jaguar Formula One teams in the same year. Bell would then graduate to the IndyCar Series competing for various teams. In 2009, the veteran driver finished 4th in Indianapolis 500.

The practice session was a good start for the American as the No. 22 crew tried a number of things and learned a lot in the today's sessions. Bell was 30th quickest and completed at total of 44 laps and recorded a fast lap speed of 220.392 mph.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will be on track for INDYCAR World Championships Presented by Honda at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 16th. The race telecast will air live on Sunday, October 16th at 3:00 pm (EST) on ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 94, and Sirius channel 212. For more updates on the team, please visit www.dreyerreinboldracing.com.

What they have to say...

Townsend Bell, No. 22 Dad's Root Beer: "We've got a great car balance wise and we were really pleased in that practice session, we learned a lot. I'm feeling much better about our chances after that practice. It was lively with EJ Viso blowing up right in front of me. You don't see that very often in the series, so that was a challenge, but everything was okay and went smoothly."

Ana Beatriz, No. 24 Ipiranga: "The Ipiranga car was okay. We just kept improving it throughout the practice session. It was a little disappointing to start out with, but we worked on making it better. It's very tight right now. The goal is to continue to work on it and I think we will be good."

Davey Hamilton, No. 11 HP: "We had improvements from when we first pulled out to where we ended. On the last run, I didn't have the opportunity to get traffic, so I was by myself when I did my fastest lap time, which was a decent time. We definitely have something to go by and we have some hope."