Robbie Buhl

Robbie Buhl
Nationality American
Born (1963-09-02) September 2, 1963
Detroit, Michigan
Retired 2004
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series
Years active 1996–2004
Teams Beck Motorsports
Team Menard
Sinden Racing
Tri-Star Racing
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Starts 78
Wins 2
Poles 0
Best finish 3rd in 1996
Previous series
1993–1994
1990–1996
1989
CART World Series
Indy Lights
Barber Saab Pro Series
Championship titles
1992
1989
Indy Lights
Barber Saab Pro Series

Robbie Buhl (born September 2, 1963) is a former Indy Racing League competitor and current team-owner, with the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team in the IRL's IndyCar Series. He was a color commentator for the IndyCar races on Versus.

He won the 1992 Indy Lights championship and caught the eye of John Menard's Team Menard in 1996, running as team mate to Tony Stewart for two seasons succeeding the late Scott Brayton. He scored his first win in what was once the closest finish in series history when he beat ex-MasterCard Lola F1 driver Vincenzo Sospiri by 0.064 seconds at the New Hampshire International Speedway.

He started his own team, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, in 2000 and stunned the establishment with a win from 22nd in the grid the season opener at Walt Disney World Speedway. Mild to moderate success followed the next few seasons and he retired as a driver prior to the 2004 Indianapolis 500. He has continued as a team owner, with moderate success, failing to win any races, but his driver Buddy Rice finished 9th in points in 2007, the team's best points result since Buhl's 8th-place finish in 2000.

Personal

Buhl's wife is the widow of former racer Scott Brayton.

Buhl was born in Detroit but his home is Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. He is a graduate of Cranbrook School (now Cranbrook Kingswood School) in Bloomfield Hills. His family's wealth stems from 19th/early 20th century manufacturing and real estate development and the industrialization of Detroit in the period 1850-1950. Family holdings included Buhl Stamping, Buhl Aircraft manufacturing, development of vast real estate holdings (including the landmark Buhl Building in downtown Detroit), Parke Davis (now part of drug giant Pfizer), Copper and Brass Sales, Inc, (by marriage) and many other holdings. His parents reside in Grosse Pointe Farms, Harbor Springs, Michigan, and Hobe Sound, Florida.

Robbie is a Founder and key Supporter of "Racing for Kids", a charitable foundation established to assist chronically ill children. Robbie makes a point of visiting sick children at hospitals on each stop of the circuit, bringing a bit of cheer to their lives in the process.

In 2007, he began a broadcasting career, joining the broadcast booth for the Indy Pro Series, now the Firestone Indy Lights Series, alongside veteran broadcaster Bob Jenkins. He would join Jenkins and Jon Beekhuis in the Versus broadcast booth for the 2009 IndyCar Series.[1] It was announced on the Izod Indycar Series website he was let go by Versus for the network's IndyCar coverage and will be replaced by Wally Dallenbach Jr., who is also a color commentator for TNT's NASCAR coverage.[2]

Motorsports Career Results

American Open Wheel

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

CART

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points
1993 Coyne SRF
Ret
PHX
Ret
LBH
6
IND
DNS
MIL
17
DET
Ret
POR CLE
Ret
TOR MIC NHA ROA
Ret
VAN MDO
14
NAZ
17
LS
16
21st 6
1994 Coyne SRF
Ret
PHX LBH
Ret
IND MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC MDO NHA VAN ROA NAZ LS 41st 0

IndyCar

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points
1996 Beck WDW
3
PHX
Ret
INDY
9
3rd 80
1996-1997 Beck/Menard NHM
Ret
LVS
8
WDW PHX
Ret
IND
8
TXS
Ret
PPI CLT NH2
1
LV2
3
13th 170
1998 Menard WDW
Ret
PHX
12
INDY
Ret
TXS
6
NHM
10
DOV CLT PPI
2
ATL
Ret
TX2
7
LVS
7
17th 174
1999 Sinden/Foyt/Tri-Star WDW
20
PHX
3
CLT
C
INDY
6
TXS PPI ATL DOV PP2 LVS
3
TX2
Ret
22nd 114
2000 Dreyer & Reinbold WDW
1
PHX
7
LVS
5
INDY
Ret
TXS
18
PPI
Ret
ATL
6
KTY
13
TX2
Ret
8th 190
2001 Dreyer & Reinbold PHX
11
HMS
Ret
ATL
Ret
INDY
15
TXS
Ret
PPI
3
RIR
9
KAN
Ret
NSH
Ret
KTY
Ret
STL
5
CHI
Ret
TX2
3
12th 237
2002 Dreyer & Reinbold HMS
Ret
PHX
Ret
FON
DNS
NZR INDY
16
TXS
Ret
PPI
Ret
RIR
13
KAN
Ret
NSH
Ret
MIS
Ret
KTY
10
STL
6
CHI
Ret
TX2
Ret
17th 177
2003 Dreyer & Reinbold HMS
Ret
PHX
12
MOT
10
INDY
Ret
TXS
Ret
PPI
15
RIR
15
KAN
12
NSH
Ret
MIS
13
STL
12
KTY
7
NZR
9
CHI
10
FON
12
TX2
11
14th 261
2004 Dreyer & Reinbold HMS
10
PHX
Ret
MOT
Ret
INDY TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MIS KTY PPI NZR CHI FON TX2 24th 44
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win)
Top 10s
(Non-podium)
Indianapolis 500
Wins
Championships
9 6 78 0 2 7 19 0 0

Indy 500 results

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
1993 Lola Buick Practice Crash Coyne
1996 Lola Ford-Cosworth 23rd 9th Beck
1997 G-Force Oldsmobile 4th 8th Menard
1998 Dallara Oldsmobile 5th 31st Menard
1999 Dallara Oldsmobile 32nd 6th Foyt
2000 G-Force Oldsmobile 9th 26th Dreyer & Reinbold
2001 G-Force Infiniti 9th 15th Dreyer & Reinbold
2002 G-Force Infiniti 2nd 16th Dreyer & Reinbold
2003 Dallara Chevrolet 22nd 23rd Dreyer & Reinbold

References

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Bruce Feldman
Barber Saab Pro Series Champion
1989
Succeeded by
Rob Wilson
Preceded by
Éric Bachelart
Indy Lights Champion
1992
Succeeded by
Bryan Herta
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