Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced today that they will be returning to the Indianapolis 500 with Sage Karam. This will be the fourth time the team and driver have paired up for the monumental race, and while it hasn’t yet produced the results they would like, they have been extremely fast. While this announcement has been expected for some time now, team owner Dennis Reinbold hinted that there even bigger things on the horizon.

The team is expected to run two cars in the race this year, with JR Hildebrand likely in the other seat. Reinbold said that announcement is still a couple of weeks away, but spoke about their future goals. He stated that their objective is to get back into the Verizon IndyCar Series full-time, which they last did in 2012. The full release from today is below.

[Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Press Release]

WIX Filters, a global manufacturer of filtration products, announced today that it will serve as chief technical partner for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s No. 24 Indy 500 entry with young driver Sage Karam in the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500.

WIX Filters, now in its 79th year of production, and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing are entering their sixth year of a multi-level partnership, including serving as the Official Technical Partner and oil filter of the team, within several racing forms including the Indy 500 and Red Bull Global Rallycross.

“DRR has been a phenomenal partner for WIX the past few years and we are thrilled to continue that relationship at the world’s biggest auto race,” said Jennifer Gibson, brand manager for WIX. “Sage Karam has been 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 at more than 230 mph in May.”

Race teams have relied on the quality and performance of WIX Filters for 60 years, and in return, the track provides exceptional R&D testing grounds for WIX engineers.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, which has entered and qualified 36 cars in the Indy 500 dating back to 1999, has run single-car entries in the Indy 500 for the past six years after being a multi-car operation through 2011. Now DRR enters Karam with the new Verizon IndyCar Series body kits for the Dallara cars.

“We are very pleased to bring WIX Filters to the Indianapolis 500 with Sage for the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ 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 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,” continued Reinbold. “And he has shown the potential to contend for the victory at the Brickyard. Now, I feel confident about our chances with Sage.”

Like WIX Filters in racing, the Dreyer and Reinbold Racing 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 come with us to 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.”

“This year marks my fourth appearance at the Brickyard with the Dreyer & Reinbold team and I have produced a contending car each year.  I expect that to be the case this year.  I’m anxious to try the new IndyCar body kits on the legendary 2 1/2-mile oval this May.”

Karam, the 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 won the Indy Lights point championship in 2013.

Karam will take the No. 24 WIX Filters DRR Dallara IndyCar to the IMS oval for the first time on Tuesday, May 15 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.