Reinbold says it was an error; fine assessed

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dennis Reinbold contends his race team made a mistake. Others might call it outright cheating.

Either way, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is paying a price — a fine and a ruined engine — for using an illegal fuel blend during the first week of Indianapolis 500 practice.

IndyCar series president Brian Barnhart said Tuesday he couldn’t determine whether the team intentionally added methanol to the fuel to increase speeds. So he fined the team an undisclosed amount.

“It was a mistake, and we’re moving on,” team co-owner Reinbold said through team spokesman Klint Briney.

The team offered no explanation for how the methanol ended up in the garage or which car used the illegal fuel blend. The rules require cars to run on almost pure ethanol.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is one of eight full-time IndyCar teams.

Its regular drivers, Buddy Rice, the 2004 Indy champion, and Sarah Fisher, the fastest woman qualifier ever on the 2.5-mile oval, were both on the track the first week. The team hired a third driver, Roger Yasukawa, last Tuesday.

All three have qualified for Sunday’s 33-car starting field.

Barnhart insisted the illegal mixture was not used during qualifying — only in practice.

“It must be a slow month if everyone’s trying to make a big deal out of that one,” he said. “It’s not a big deal.”

Still, he acknowledged there was a substantial amount of methanol in the fuel tank, which ruined an engine.