| Buddy Rice | |
|---|---|
Buddy Rice recovers from a tough qualification attempt prior to the 2007 Indianapolis 500. |
|
| Nationality | American |
| Born | January 31, 1976 Phoenix, Arizona |
| 2012 IndyCar Series | |
| Debut season | 2002 |
| Current team | Panther Racing |
| Car no. | 44 |
| Former teams | Cheever Racing Rahal Letterman Racing Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Rubicon Racing Team |
| Starts | 97 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Poles | 5 |
| Best finish | 3rd in 2004 |
| Previous series | |
| 2006 1998-2000, 2002 1996-1997 |
Champ Car World Series Toyota Atlantic U.S. Formula Ford 2000 |
| Championship titles | |
| 2000 | Toyota Atlantic Champion |
| Awards | |
| 2004 2009 |
Indianapolis 500 winner 24 Hours of Daytona winner |
Buddy Rice (born January 31, 1976) is an American racecar driver. He is best known for winning the 2004 Indianapolis 500 while driving for Rahal Letterman Racing, and the 2009 24 Hours of Daytona for Brumos Racing.
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Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Buddy Rice is the son of a former drag racer. Rice's grandfather was from Indianapolis and passed on his interest in racing to Rice's father. Rice saw his first race when he was six years old. He started racing in go-karts when he was 11. Rice played baseball in high school in Phoenix, Arizona, and attracted the attention of college and professional scouts. However, both Rice and his father decided he would pursue a career in racing instead.[1][2]
Rice's professional career began in 1996, when he drove in one U.S. F2000 event; he finished eighth after starting second. He also drove in the Dodge Shelby Pro Series, winning from the pole at Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 1997, Rice drove in F2000 for Lynx Racing/DSTP Motorsports, finishing fourth in points and winning at Phoenix. He also won the 1997 Valvoline Team USA Scholarship, where he represented the United States in Europe’s Nations Cup.
In 1998, he won from the pole at Nazareth. He finished seventh in Toyota Atlantic points, and won the Gilles Villeneuve Memorial Award. He finished fifth in the Toyota Atlantic championship in 1999, driving for Lynx Racing.
He won the 2000 Toyota Atlantic Series championship, which gained the attention of Red Bull Cheever Racing. In 2001, he tested with Red Bull Cheever Racing in November at California.
In August 2002, Rice had his first race in the IRL for Red Bull Cheever Racing at Michigan International Speedway. Hired initially to replace crash-prone Tomas Scheckter, team owner Eddie Cheever discovered that Scheckter's contract was more iron-clad than first thought. Team Cheever then ran three entries (joined by their team owner), and the best crew and parts were given to Rice. Rice lost the race by inches to Scheckter, but made a mark in the series. He competed in the final five races of the IRL IndyCar Series season with Red Bull Cheever Racing, scoring four top-10 finishes and two top-five finishes in five starts.
In 2003, Rice competed in 13 of 16 races for Red Bull Cheever Racing but was replaced by the more experienced Alex Barron.
In November 2003, he dabbled with a one-off drive in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the Homestead circuit before being called by Bobby Rahal to drive the #15 Argent Mortgage Honda when Kenny Bräck was injured in a late-race crash at Texas Motor Speedway in 2003.
In 2004, Rice started on the pole and won the rain-shortened Indianapolis 500, his first Indycar race victory. He finished 3rd in the IRL championship that year, earning five poles, three wins and leading 342 laps. After his Indy 500 win, his sponsors told him that they would buy him any car he wanted, he chose a 1949 Mercury Eight.
For 2005 he and Vitor Meira were joined by Danica Patrick. However, Rice was injured in a crash at Indianapolis during practice, and was not cleared to race. In an ironic twist, Bräck then substituted for Rice.
The 2006 season began tragically for Rice at the season-opening race at Homestead-Miami Speedway when teammate Paul Dana of Rahal Letterman Racing team was killed in the final practice session. Rice and his other teammate Danica Patrick withdrew immediately from the race. Rice started his 2006 season in the following race at St. Petersburg, Florida. His Indianapolis 500 race ended early in a crash with Hélio Castroneves. After the IRL season ended, he raced in the Champ Car World Series race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for Forsythe Racing and finished 10th.
For 2007, Rice joined Sarah Fisher at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. He captured 3 top-five finishes in the first half of the season and finished 9th in points, his best result since 2004. He was retained by the team for the 2008 IndyCar season, the high point of which came with a 4th place finish at Watkins Glen. He ultimately finished 16th in points.
He did not participate in the 2009 IndyCar Series season after being released from Dreyer & Reinbold Racing at the end of the 2008 season. Further, his long-standing partnership with Red Bull also expired and was not renewed.
He will race for Panther Racing in the 2011 Indianapolis 500 as a teammate to JR Hildebrand driving the number 44 Honda Dallara.[3]
Starting the 2007-08 season, Rice signed to drive for A1 Team USA in the A1 Grand Prix international racing series.[4] He drove in the first two rounds of the season with a best finish of 13th in the Zandvoort feature race before ceding the seat to Jonathan Summerton for the remainder of the season.
In his free time, Buddy Rice collects and restores classic cars. Buddy enjoys spending time with his wife Margot. Their first child, Mina, was born on April 9, 2008. Buddy now races for Spirit of Daytona in the Rolex Sports Car Series, where he and his teammates drive the 90 Daytona Prototype for owner Troy Flis. He helped Spirit of Daytona get the first podium finish for the team at the Six Hours of the Glen in 2010. He has even completed a race without his left shoe.[5]
(key)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Red Bull Cheever | HMS |
PHX |
FON |
NZR |
INDY |
TXS |
PPIR |
RIR |
KAN |
NSH |
MIS 2 |
KTY 12 |
STL 4 |
CHI 9 |
TX2 6 |
22nd | 140 | ||||
| 2003 | Red Bull Cheever | HMS 16 |
PHX 9 |
MOT 13 |
INDY 11 |
TXS 14 |
PPIR 9 |
RIR 9 |
KAN Ret |
NSH 18 |
MIS 11 |
STL 14 |
KTY 11 |
NZR 10 |
CHI |
FON |
TX2 |
16th | 229 | |||
| 2004 | Rahal Letterman Racing | HMS 7 |
PHX 9 |
MOT 6 |
INDY 1 |
TXS Ret |
RIR 6 |
KAN 1 |
NSH 6 |
MIL 2 |
MIS 1 |
KTY 2 |
PPIR Ret |
NZR 4 |
CHI Ret |
FON 5 |
TX2 Ret |
3rd | 485 | |||
| 2005 | Rahal Letterman Racing | HMS Ret |
PHX Ret |
STP 7 |
MOT 3 |
INDY Inj |
TXS Ret |
RIR 11 |
KAN 10 |
NSH Ret |
MIL Ret |
MIS Ret |
KTY 14 |
PPIR 11 |
SNM 2 |
CHI 13 |
WGL Ret |
FON 12 |
15th | 295 | ||
| 2006 | Rahal Letterman Racing | HMS Wth1 |
STP Ret |
MOT 5 |
INDY Ret |
WGL 4 |
TXS Ret |
RIR 13 |
KAN Ret |
NSH Ret |
MIL 11 |
MIS 13 |
KTY 15 |
SNM 15 |
CHI 13 |
15th | 234 | |||||
| 2007 | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | HMS 10 |
STP 10 |
MOT 10 |
KAN Ret |
INDY Ret |
MIL Ret |
TXS 8 |
IOW 4 |
RIR 5 |
WGL 6 |
NSH Ret |
MDO 8 |
MIS 5 |
KEN 12 |
SNM 11 |
DET Ret |
CHI 9 |
9th | 360 | ||
| 2008 | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | HMS 11 |
STP 15 |
MOT2 12 |
LBH2 DNP |
KAN Ret |
INDY 8 |
MIL 10 |
TXS 8 |
IOW Ret |
RIR Ret |
WGL 4 |
NSH 7 |
MDO 20 |
EDM 11 |
KTY 10 |
SNM 11 |
DET Ret |
CHI Ret |
SRF3 10 |
16th | 306 |
| 2011 | Panther Racing | STP |
ALA |
LBH |
SAO |
INDY 18 |
TXS1 |
TXS2 |
MIL |
IOW |
TOR |
EDM |
MDO |
NHM |
SNM |
BAL |
MOT |
KTY 9 |
LVS |
34th* | 42* |
| Years | Teams | Races | Poles | Wins | Podiums (Non-win) |
Top 10s (Non-podium) |
Indianapolis 500 Wins |
Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 4 | 99 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 35 | 1 (2004) | 0 |
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 19 | 11 | Cheever |
| 2004 | G-Force | Honda | 1 | 1 | Rahal Letterman |
| 2005 | Panoz | Honda | Practice crash | Rahal Letterman | |
| 2006 | Panoz | Honda | 14 | 26 | Rahal Letterman |
| 2007 | Dallara | Honda | 16 | 25 | Dreyer & Reinbold |
| 2008 | Dallara | Honda | 17 | 8 | Dreyer & Reinbold |
| 2011 | Dallara | Honda | 7 | 18 | Panther |
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Forsythe | LBH |
HOU |
MTY |
MIL |
POR |
CLE |
TOR |
EDM |
SJO |
DEN |
MTL |
ROA |
SRF |
MXC 10 |
23rd | 11 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | USA | NED SPR 22 |
NED FEA 13 |
CZE SPR 16 |
CZE FEA 15 |
MYS SPR |
MYS FEA |
ZHU SPR |
ZHU FEA |
NZL SPR |
NZL FEA |
AUS SPR |
AUS FEA |
RSA SPR |
RSA FEA |
MEX SPR |
MEX FEA |
SHA SPR |
SHA FEA |
GBR SPR |
GBR SPR |
12th | 56 |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Anthony Lazzaro |
Toyota Atlantic Champion 2000 |
Succeeded by Hoover Orsi |
| Preceded by Gil de Ferran |
Indianapolis 500 Winner 2004 |
Succeeded by Dan Wheldon |
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