WIX Filters has announced it will serve as a chief technical partner for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (DRR). WIX will serve as primary partner for the No. 24 Indy 500 entry for young driver Sage Karam in the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500.
WIX and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is entering its sixth year of a multi-level partnership, and WIX will serve as the Official Technical Partner and oil filter of the team within several racing forms, including the Indy 500 and Red Bull Global Rallycross.
“We are thrilled to continue our relationship with DRR at the world’s biggest auto race,” said Jennifer Gibson, brand manager for WIX. “We’ve had a strong relationship with the entire team for the past few years, and we know Sage will continue to be a charger at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his first Indy 500 events. We can’t wait to see him drive the No. 24 WIX Filters IndyCar in May.”
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, which has entered and qualified 36 cars in the Indy 500 since 1999, has run single-car entries in the Indy 500 for the past six years after being a multi-car operation through 2011. Karam will enter this year with the new Verizon IndyCar Series body kits for the Dallara cars.
“We are very pleased to bring Sage back to the Indianapolis 500 with WIX Filters for the world’s biggest auto race in 2018,” said Dennis Reinbold, team owner of the Indy-based DRR organization. “WIX Filters has been a great technical partner for many years and we are thrilled to have the company back for this great race. WIX Filters is a valued sponsor, and has made numerous valuable contributions to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, both on and off the race track through our six-year partnership. The WIX brand means quality and performance, which is what we’re all about. We hope to put WIX Filters in the winner’s circle in 2018.”
“Sage has become a strong competitor for us in his three previous races with our team,” said Reinbold. “And he has shown the potential to contend for the coveted victory at the Brickyard. Now, we have a new bodywork kit for this year’s race and I feel confident about our chances with Sage.”
The Dreyer & Reinbold family has an impressive legacy at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway dating back to the 1920s with legendary car builder Floyd “Pop” Dreyer. Reinbold, Dreyer’s grandson, has served as a car owner in the Indy 500 since 1999 and has recorded four top-10 finishes, including a best of fourth in 2012.
“It’s always exciting to enter and prepare for the world’s biggest auto race,” said Karam, who came from 31st to ninth as an Indy 500 rookie in 2014. “It’s great to have a global brand like WIX Filters with us at this year’s Indy 500. WIX Filters has helped race teams at all levels win and they are perfect to be a part of our 2018 team.”
Karam, a 22-year-old driver from Nazareth, Pennsylvania, will enter his fifth Indy 500 and fourth with the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team. Sage won the “Hard Charger Award” as rookie competitor in the 2015 Indy 500 and put on a sensational drive from 23rd to fourth in 2016 before retiring from the event on lap 94 in DRR machinery.
Karam, a high school wrestling star, won the Indy Lights point championship in 2013.
He will take the No. 24 WIX Filters DRR Dallara IndyCar to the IMS oval for the first time on Tuesday, May 13, when practice rounds open on the famed oval. Qualifying for the 102nd running of the Indy 500 is set for Saturday, May 19 and Sunday, May 20. The start for this year’s Indianapolis 500-Mile Race is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 27.
