DRR PIT CREWS ARE A ‘FAMILY AFFAIR’ IN THE 2020 INDY 500 WITH SELMANS, SHARPLEYS ‘OVER THE WALL’ THIS SUNDAY

Chase, Cody & Wayne Selman on 24 Car, Dave & Jeremy Sharpley on 67 car

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (August 16, 2020) – Most Indy 500 racing fans know about the legacy of the Dreyer and Reinbold families at the Indianapolis 500. That legacy dates back to 1927 with the family patriarch Floyd “Pop” Dreyer and now his grandson and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team owner Dennis Reinbold.

But, in this year’s Indy 500, the DRR team extends its “family affair” to the respective pit crews of drivers Sage Karam with the No. 24 WIX Filters Chevrolet and J.R. Hildebrand with the No. 67 Salesforce Chevrolet.

Wayne, Cody and Chase Selman will be over the wall Sunday for Karam’s crew, while Dave and Jeremy Sharpley will be on Hildebrand’s pit crew.

The three Selman’s.

On Karam’s pit crew in Sunday’s 104th “Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the Selman family will be back in action when pit stops begin in the 200-lap motorsports classic.

Wayne Selman, Cody and Chase’s father, returns to going over the wall in 2020 after being a fuel man in pit crews for over 20 years in IndyCar racing, in both the CART and NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition. With the initial season of the aeroscreens, Wayne will be the crewman on Karam’s car to remove tear offs from the cockpit aeroscreen.

Chase, the DRR team manager, will change the right rear tire on the No. 24 machine Sunday while older brother Cody, a longtime tire changer and local businessman now, will serve as the left rear tire changer when Sage pulls into his pit stop at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Wayne Selman, a former motorcycle racer, has been a veteran crew member for nearly 30 years and his boys always were at the races with their dad. They were big IndyCar Racing fans and wanted to follow in their father’s footsteps on pit stops and the motorsports business.

“We would take the boys to the races and even sneak them into the garage area or pits,” says Wayne, who handles the team’s tire management as well as driving the DRR semi-truck to the races. “They wanted to be a part of the team. Once they graduated from college (Cody at Hanover University and Chase at Indiana University), they both wanted to enter the racing world. Cody went to Charlotte to work in marketing for NASCAR teams and sponsors, while Chase followed Wayne to Dennis’ team as a marketing person. Later, Chase became the team manager at age 25 and now, at age 34, is still one of the youngest team managers in all of motorsports. 

“Cody used to ride in the semi-truck with my dad to the race,” said Chase. “Then when he went to college, I did that during the summers going to the races with my dad. It was a great experience and we got racing in our blood.”

Cody and his wife, Fox TV commentator Jamie Little, recently opened a “Nothing Bundt Cakes” store in the Indianapolis area but he still comes to the Indy 500 each year as a tire changer for his younger brother’s team.

“We always wanted to go over the wall and be a part of the pit crew as kids,” says Cody, 36. “So, when it was time to do it, my dad was the fueler and I wanted to change tires. The 38-pound rear tire can be heavy by the end of the 500, but it is fun and I really enjoy it. It’s great to be back with my dad and brother on the same pit crew.”

For the Sharpleys, like the Selmans, racing is in their blood as well. Father Dave grew up in Pennsylvania and became a mechanic on the famed “PA Posse” sprint car circuit. Dave moved his family to Indiana to work on IndyCars around 2000 and now runs his own racing business in Pittsboro, Ind.

Dave and Jeremy Sharpley

Dave is crew chief on the No. 67 Hildebrand-driven machine in this year’s 500 Mile Race after many years with Andretti Autosport team in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

Jeremy was a college hockey star before moving to Charlotte and working for several top NASCAR teams in their shock department. Most recently, Jeremy worked for the Penske teams in NASCAR and IndyCar. To be closer to his family, Jeremy took a “normal” job and assists his dad in the racing parts side.

“I started back in the sprint cars and then came to Indiana for the IndyCar series,” says Dave Sharpley. “Jeremy would come to the races as a youngster too. He didn’t major in mechanical engineering in college when he played hockey. But he began working in the sport. Now, we are back together at the Indy 500. It is very fun as a family. I loved the family-type atmosphere at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing too.”

On Sunday, Dave Sharpley will change the right front tire on Hildebrand’s car, while son Jeremy will change the left front tire during the pit stop action.

“It is great to back at the Indy 500 and to be working with my dad,” said Jeremy, who racing motorcycles as a youngster. “I have a normal 8-to-5 job now at Charlotte and I help my dad on some of his racing business too. But being back at the Indy 500 this year is a thrill and especially working with my dad. He is a great crew chief and it’s fun to work for him.”

This Friday, in Carb Day, the Selmans and Sharpleys will be focused on their pit stop duties in the two-hour practice as they prepare for Sunday’s Indy 500. And it’s only natural that the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team will continue its family legacy at Indy with two more families being a large part of its Indy 500 contingent.

The 104th Indy 500 is schedule to begin Sunday, Aug. 23, at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised live on NBC-TV.