Expansion mode source: indycar.com / Dave Lewandowski Duddy is back. Sarah is back. Together, along with ramped-up engineering and shock departments and a solid sponsorship package, they plan to lead Dreyer & Reinbold Racing forward. Team co-owners Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl confirmed the expansion to a two-car effort that includes 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice for the 17-race IndyCar Series season and veteran Sarah Fisher for the 12 oval races. Additional sponsorship is being sought to expand Fisher's season. Rice will retain his familiar No. 15, while Fisher will drive the No. 5 Honda-powered Dallara. Rice will participate in the Open Test on a modified 2.73-mile, 10-turn road course Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at Daytona International Speedway, where he competed in the Rolex 24 At Daytona over the weekend. Both cars will be on the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway oval for the second Open Test on Feb. 21-22. With three victories, 13 top-5 finishes and five pole positions in 63 starts, Rice is looking to add to the totals. He competed the past three seasons with Rahal Letterman Racing. While he won the 500-Mile Race, Rice had not been a consistent contender for race victories - or the IndyCar Series championship - the past two years. Rice sees the hiring of engineers John Dick and Chris Finch, formerly of Fernandez Racing as a commitment to running at the front. "Dreyer & Reinbold is really trying to step up their program, especially with the engineers they have brought on board to make the team a front-runner full time," Rice said. "With Chris Finch and John Dick coming from Fernandez and me coming from Rahal, we had worked together a little bit in the past and I think there is a bit of a relationship there already. I'm really excited to join the team and it will be great to see what we can do in 2007. "DRR has lots of potential and I look forward to helping them tap into that."
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