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Buddy Rice
Rice waits for a qualification attempt before the2007 Indianapolis 500
Born	(1976-01-31)January 31, 1976 (age 49) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
IndyCar Series career
Debut season	2002
Current team	Panther Racing
Car number	44
Former teams	Cheever Racing Rahal Letterman Racing Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Rubicon Racing Team
Starts	97
Wins	3
Poles	5
Best finish	3rd in2004
Previous series
2006 1998–2000, 2002 1996–1997	Champ Car World Series Toyota Atlantic U.S.Formula Ford 2000
Championship titles
2000 2004 2009	Toyota Atlantic Champion Indianapolis 500 winner 24 Hours of Daytona winner
Awards
1997	Team USA Scholarship

"Buddy" Rice (born January 31, 1976) is an American former professional race car driver. He is best known for winning the2004 Indianapolis 500 while driving forRahal Letterman Racing, and the2009 24 Hours of Daytona for Brumos Racing.

Born inPhoenix, Arizona, 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 eleven. Rice played baseball in high school inPhoenix, 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 atLas 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'sNations Cup.

In 1998, Rice won from the pole atNazareth. He finished seventh inToyota 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 2000Toyota Atlantic Series championship, which gained the attention ofRed 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 theIRL forRed Bull Cheever Racing atMichigan International Speedway. Hired initially to replace crash-proneTomas Scheckter, team ownerEddie 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.^{[citation needed]} 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-ten finishes and two top-five finishes in five starts.

In 2003, Rice competed in thirteen of sixteen races for Red Bull Cheever Racing but was replaced by the more experiencedAlex 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 No. 15 Argent Mortgage Honda whenKenny Bräck was injured in a late-race crash atTexas Motor Speedway in 2003.

In 2004, Rice started on pole and won a rain-shortened Indianapolis 500, his first Indycar race victory. He finished third in theIRL 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 1949Mercury Eight.

For2005 he andVítor Meira were joined byDanica 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.

The2006 season began tragically for Rice at the season-opening race atHomestead-Miami Speedway when teammatePaul Dana of Rahal Letterman Racing team was killed in the final practice session. Rice and his other teammate Danica Patrick immediately withdrew from the race. Rice started his 2006 season in the following race atSt. Petersburg, Florida. His Indianapolis 500 race ended early in a crash withHélio Castroneves. After the IRL season ended, he raced in theChamp Car World Series race atAutodromo Hermanos Rodriguez forForsythe Racing and finished tenth.

For2007, Rice joinedSarah Fisher atDreyer & Reinbold Racing. He captured 3 top-five finishes in the first half of the season and finished ninth in points, his best result since 2004. He was retained by the team for the2008 IndyCar season, the high point of which came with a fourth-place finish at Watkins Glen. He ultimately finished sixteenth 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.^{[citation needed]}

He raced forPanther Racing in the2011 Indianapolis 500 as a teammate toJ. R. Hildebrand driving the No. 44 Honda Dallara.^[3]

Starting the2007-08 season, Rice signed to drive forA1 Team USA in theA1 Grand Prix international racing series.^[4] He drove in the first two rounds of the season with a best finish of thirteenth in the Zandvoort feature race before ceding the seat toJonathan Summerton for the remainder of the season.

Rice competed in a few Grand-AmRolex Sports Car Series in the early 2000s. In his debut in 2000, he finished second at Watkins Glen on a TRP Lola Nissan. In 2002, he resulted second at the6 Hours of Watkins Glen and fourth in Homestead and Phoenix, driving a Miracle Riley & Scott Ford.

The driver competed at the24 Hours of Daytona from 2005 to 2008, with a best result of ninth in 2006. He also raced at Utah from 2006 to 2008, collecting a seventh again in 2006.

In 2009, Rice won the 24 Hours of Daytona on aBrumos Racing Riley Porsche. He spent the second half of the season as teammate ofAntonio García in a Spirit of Daytona Coyote Porsche, where he finished fourth at Barber in his only top-ten.

Rice raced full-time for Spirit of Daytona in the 2010 Rolex Sports Car Series, joining again García. He helped Spirit of Daytona get the first podium finish for the team at the Six Hours of the Glen in 2010, collecting a third place. He also resulted fifth in three races and ended the season in eleventh place.

His last Grand-Am race was the2011 24 Hours of Daytona, where he finished ninth in an Action Express Racing Riley Porsche.

In his free time, Rice collects and restores classic cars. He has a child, Mina, who was born on April 9, 2008.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

¹ Rahal-Letterman Racing withdrew both Rice and teammateDanica Patrick from competition when fellow teammatePaul Dana was killed in a race-morning practice session accident.

² Races run on same day.

³ Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBuddy Rice.

• Official Site
• Buddy Rice driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• IndyCar Driver Page
• Buddy Rice on the Honda site

• 1976 births
• 24 Hours of Daytona drivers
• A1 Team USA drivers
• Atlantic Championship drivers
• Champ Car drivers
• EFDA Nations Cup drivers
• Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• Indianapolis 500 polesitters
• Indianapolis 500 winners
• IndyCar Series drivers
• International Race of Champions drivers
• Living people
• Racing drivers from Phoenix, Arizona
• Global RallyCross Championship drivers
• WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
• U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers
• A1 Grand Prix drivers
• Cheever Racing drivers
• Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers
• Dreyer & Reinbold Racing drivers
• Panther Racing drivers
• Forsythe Racing drivers
• Action Express Racing drivers

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