After a weekend off, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing kicks off a final three-week stretch of the 2008 IndyCar Series season this weekend at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, with drivers Buddy Rice and Townsend Bell.

Rice comes into this weekend having earned his sixth top-ten finish of the season in the last round at the Kentucky Speedway with his tenth-place result.

If history is any indication, this should be a weekend to look forward to for Rice.  In the first IndyCar Series event held at the Infineon Raceway, in 2005, Rice finished second.  Last year, driving for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, he qualified in the top-ten.  At the last natural-terrain circuit the series ran at this year, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, he had one of the fastest cars all weekend, including posting the fastest time in one of the qualifying sessions.  The team looks to carry that momentum into this weekend’s race.

Rice will be joined by Townsend Bell who returns to the cockpit of the #23 William Rast machine.  This weekend’s race is a homecoming event for Bell who was born and raised in the Northern California area.  Many family and guests will be in attendance to cheer him on.

This is the first time that Bell will race at the Infineon Raceway in the IndyCar Series, but he has spent some time on the track.  In 2006, he participated in a short practice session with Vision Racing, and last week, he participated in a one-day test with the William Rast team.

He’ll look to add-on to his solid results of 2008 having posted three top-tens in six starts (10th in Japan and Indianapolis; eighth in Richmond).

Practice for both drivers begins on Friday at 11 a.m. for 90 minutes.  A second 60-minute session will take place that afternoon at 2:45.  On Saturday morning, a third practice, with split groups begins at 9:30 a.m. and runs for an hour.  Qualifying will take place that afternoon at 1:15.  All times listed are in ET, and all sessions can be seen live via streaming video on indycar.com.

The Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County at the Infineon Raceway takes place on Sunday, August 24th, and can be seen live in HD at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

QUOTES

#15 DREYER & REINBOLD RACING Honda Dallara Driver Buddy Rice

“I’m looking forward to this race.  I’ve done well here before.  Hopefully we can come in here and have a good weekend.  We’ve run well on the road courses this year, and actually, we’ve been quick on the last couple of ovals.  We want to finish the year out strong for Dreyer and Reinbold, and hopefully we can get a solid top-five here.”

#23 WILLIAM RAST/DREYER & REINBOLD RACING Honda Dallara Driver Townsend Bell

“I’m excited about racing here in Infineon.  We’ve got a lot of friends and family coming out.  It was nice to get the chance to test here last week.  We definitely identified some areas for improvement.  Hopefully that’s going to help us going into this weekend.”