Expansion options considered for Cusick Motorsports

Don Cusick is actively charting the future of Cusick Motorsports and has an array of options to consider for an expansion into Indy NXT and a return at next year’s Indianapolis 500.

Cusick initially embraced the idea of retirement after selling his largest business and dove headfirst into motor racing as a passion project. With his 69th birthday arriving later in the week, Cusick is at the stage of life where working non-stop is meant to be a thing of the past. But he also sees opportunities to grow his team’s footprint in multiple series, and that’s where longer hours have become the norm in recent months as ongoing discussions on partnering with NXT and IndyCar teams is a central focus for Cusick.

“We’ve loved working with Dennis Reinbold at Indianapolis and we’d be open to working with Dennis and his team again,” Cusick told RACER. “At this moment, we don’t have any plans put in place with Dennis or any of the other teams, but there are teams who are talking to us and definitely we plan to be back for 2026.”

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Cusick joined Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in 2023 as the sponsor and co-entrant on DRR’s No. 24 Chevy piloted by Stefan Wilson through qualifying and raced by Graham Rahal after Wilson was ruled out due to injury. Cusick returned in 2024 as the co-entrant on both DRR-Cusick Motorsports entries for Ryan Hunter-Reay and Conor Daly where he brought an array of sponsors and continued this year in the same capacity with the cars driven by Hunter-Reay (pictured above) and Jack Harvey.

As IndyCar readies a new car to deploy for 2028, Cusick sees continuing in a co-entry capacity as the best fit for his program.

“What we’ve been doing since we got into IndyCar with joining forces is where we’re going to stay until it’s maybe time to consider doing more," he said. "But we’re constantly talking with sponsors who want to be involved and I feel confident with the talks we’ve had since May that we’ll be part of the Indy 500 again next year.”

Cusick is also getting closer to striking a co-entry arrangement in Indy NXT and has meetings planned this weekend with potential partner teams at the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey.

“Yes, and that’s also been continuing to develop for us,” he added. “We have serious considerations for running two Indy NXT cars full-season for 2026 and that’s where we're at right here at this moment. We should know more by next week.”