Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Loudon race report

DREYER & REINBOLD RACING ENDURED PLENTY OF TRACK ACTION DURING THE MOVETHATBLOCK.COM INDY 225

Ana Beatriz, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Photo by: Ted Rossino

Loudon, NH (August 14, 2011) -Dreyer & Reinbold Racing endured plenty of emotion and action during the MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225. The team made their first appearance at the 1.025 oval as it turned out to be a bittersweet day for DRR drivers, Tomas Scheckter (No. 22 MoveThatBlock.com) and Ana Beatriz (No.24 Ipiranga).

The entire event was filled with the threat of rain, which definitely mixed up the way things shook out in Loudon, New Hampshire. Tomas Scheckter, pilot of the No. 22 MoveThatBlock.com machine, turned heads as he went from P18 on the starting grid to P8 all on the first lap. Then the caution flew on the first lap and on the Lap 7 restart Scheckter had another impressive run as he went from P8 to P6. The caution came out again and on the Lap 11 restart, he gained three more positions, putting him in third place. From that point on, Scheckter tried to hang on, but he needed traffic to stay in the mix, and as a result he lost a few positions. On Lap 70, he came in for fuel and tires and then the weather came.

Rain finally rolled in and the yellow flew on Lap 75. As the field rode around for 32 laps waiting for the weather to clear, the green flagged was dropped on Lap 107. Unfortunately, that's when things would change for Scheckter. On Lap 110 Marco Andretti clipped the left rear of the No. 22 MoveThatBlock.com machine, which then sent Scheckter into Tony Kanann. His day was ended early and he finished in 23rd position.

It was a similar story for Ana Beatriz. The Brazilian hung on through all of the craziness, proving once again that she continues to graduate from rookie status. On the start, she stayed clear of the mayhem that was unfolding in front of her and maintained her 21st starting position. Beatriz came in on Lap 73 for fuel and tires and then the yellow flag came out for rain. On the Lap 107 restart, Bia held her own and slowly worked her way up the grid.

The rain came out again and the yellow flew on Lap 206. From that point on is when things got a little tricky for Beatriz. The Brazilian stayed out of trouble and was sitting in P14. The restart came out and unfortunately, Beatriz got caught up in the mayhem in front of her, which collected the No. 24 Ipiranga car. Luckily, the order went back to what it was before the restart and she finished the race in 14th position.

What they have to say about the MoveThatBlock.Com Indy 225:

Tomas Scheckter, No. 22 MoveThatBlock.Com:"It was a good start and I worked the outside lane. I managed to get myself up to P3 pretty early on. We knew what we were doing with the car and that it wasn't going to be that good on its own, but good in traffic. We really needed the traffic and as soon as the traffic came we were a little bit better. I got pushed up by Ryan Briscoe just before the rain came and that dropped us back a back a bit. On the restart Marco Andretti just came up on me. We had passed him and cleared him, and he was at my left rear and hit my left rear. It was obvious on the video and it's just upsetting for the crew and MoveThatBlock.com guys. It was great to have them on board and I wish that we could have had a better result. We will see."

Ana Beatriz, No. 24 Ipiranga:"It was a tough day. I knew it was going to be a tough race with 26 cars in the field with a mix of really fast cars and not so fast cars. We were just working through that trying to improve. I think that we made some changes that made the car better and the track was getting better. At the end we were running some really good laps, but it was just really hard to pass. We had some really good pit stops and at the end we were in a good position. Unfortunately, it started to rain a couple of times and I don't know what the league was thinking in restarting the race, but it was really dangerous. There was still moisture on my visor and when they said one lap to go I couldn't believe it. As soon as we restarted everyone started to spin and we got caught in it. At the end of the day for us the league decided to finish the race before the restart so we didn't lose much. It was a tough day and I have to thank all of the Ipiranga crew. We now move onto Sonoma."