Panther DRR Planning To Shut Down After Indy 500. Oriol Servia will be rideless after next month's Indy 500 unless additional sponsorship or a new team partner/investor can be identified.

Unless a new partner or financial angel surfaces quickly, one of the loyal, little guys in the IZOD IndyCar series is shutting down after next month’s Indianapolis 500.

And one of the most resilient drivers in open wheel racing will again find himself in free fall.

Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl, whose Dreyer & Reinbold team has been a mainstay of Indy-car racing since 2000, don’t have the sponsorship necessary to continue to field a car for Oriol Servia.

“It’s disappointing, obviously, but financially it has to make sense,” said Reinbold, who informed Servia and the crew of their plight this week after returning from Long Beach.

“IndyCar racing is getting more and more affordable and it needs to continue that way but we just don’t have the funds to continue past May.”

Servia, one of IndyCar’s most under-rated values, figured he’d finally found a home after more than a decade of ride hopping.

“I didn’t see it coming. There were no signs because we never missed a test and we just bought eight new dampers and went to the shaker rig,” said the 38-year-old Spaniard who began his career in CART in 1999.

Without a new sponsor or investor, Oriol Servia and the Panther DRR team will be forced to shut down after next month's Indy 500. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

“I knew we were a little short and one big deal fell through at the last second but I figured we’d be OK. It’s sad because Dennis and Robbie have put together a damn good team.”

Even though he shares technology with Panther Racing, Reinbold is a single-car team that has been creative with sponsorships because he and Buhl have never scored a big company like Target or Verizon.

This year he’s got Charter (a media company), Valspar (a paint company), Mecum (auctions), Wix (filters), Hurco (a CNC machine company) and Sandvik (a tool company) on Servia’s Dallara/Chevy.

“That’s why we have so many different liveries,” continued Reinbold, whose car dealership is his main source of income. “The crazy thing is that we’ve already got a sponsor for the 2014 Indy 500 so I know we’ll be back there for sure.

“I want to keep as many of our people (25-30 employees) as possible if we do have to cease our operation so we’ll try and get creative and weather the storm.”

Servia is searching for an angel while trying to stay optimistic about next month.

“We’re not selling smoke here,” said last year’s fourth place finisher at Indianapolis who finished a fighting sixth last weekend in Long Beach. “This is a proper operation and we can win Indy so maybe somebody will see that and come along and save us.

“I’m not giving up and neither is Dennis.”

Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.