Access Motorsports was an American auto racing team that competed in the IndyCar Series from 2003-2004. Founded by 1999 Indy Racing League champion Greg Ray after failing to find a ride for the 2003 season, the team debuted at the 2003 Indianapolis 500 and ran the rest of the season with Ray as owner/driver. He would finish 15th in the points standings. Access Motorsports was the only team that year to run a G-Force chassis and a Honda engine, with Honda also making its debut that season. The combo was not particularly competitive, with Ray never finishing higher than 8th and only ever qualifying as high as 5th. The package was reliable, however, as the car only had one DNF out of thirteen starts.
The 2004 season was much less consistent for the team, both on and off the track. Despite a sponsorship deal from Renovac and a front-row start at the third race at Motegi, the team struggled in the first three races and Renovac withdrew its sponsorship prior to the 2004 Indianapolis 500. Ray was fortunate enough to sign a one-race deal with Rent-A-Center,[1] but for the next two races at Texas and Richmond the team was forced to race without sponsorship.
This took an economic toll on the team, and as a result they were forced to skip the following race at Kansas. The team was able to scrape together another sponsorship deal for the rest of the season, and as a result Ray stepped away from the driver's seat and handed it to rookie Mark Taylor.[2] Once again, the team struggled for results, although it did score a best finish of 7th place three times, one by Ray and two by Taylor.
But despite Ray's best efforts to find sponsorship for the 2005 season, none was forthcoming. As a result, the team shut down before the start of the season and Ray officially retired from open-wheel racing.
^. Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2017-10-06. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
^"Taylor 'delighted' with Access deal". Crash. 2004-07-13. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
December 15, 2023
access, motorsports, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, decemb. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Access Motorsports news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Access Motorsports was an American auto racing team that competed in the IndyCar Series from 2003 2004 Founded by 1999 Indy Racing League champion Greg Ray after failing to find a ride for the 2003 season the team debuted at the 2003 Indianapolis 500 and ran the rest of the season with Ray as owner driver He would finish 15th in the points standings Access Motorsports was the only team that year to run a G Force chassis and a Honda engine with Honda also making its debut that season The combo was not particularly competitive with Ray never finishing higher than 8th and only ever qualifying as high as 5th The package was reliable however as the car only had one DNF out of thirteen starts Access MotorsportsOwner s Greg Ray Ted BittingBaseIndianapolis IndianaSeriesIndyCar SeriesRace driversGreg Ray Mark TaylorSponsorsTrim Spa Renovac Rent A CenterManufacturerG ForceOpened2003Closed2004CareerDebut2003 Indianapolis 500Latest race2004 Chevy 500 Texas Races competed29Drivers Championships0Race victories0Pole positions0The 2004 season was much less consistent for the team both on and off the track Despite a sponsorship deal from Renovac and a front row start at the third race at Motegi the team struggled in the first three races and Renovac withdrew its sponsorship prior to the 2004 Indianapolis 500 Ray was fortunate enough to sign a one race deal with Rent A Center 1 but for the next two races at Texas and Richmond the team was forced to race without sponsorship This took an economic toll on the team and as a result they were forced to skip the following race at Kansas The team was able to scrape together another sponsorship deal for the rest of the season and as a result Ray stepped away from the driver s seat and handed it to rookie Mark Taylor 2 Once again the team struggled for results although it did score a best finish of 7th place three times one by Ray and two by Taylor But despite Ray s best efforts to find sponsorship for the 2005 season none was forthcoming As a result the team shut down before the start of the season and Ray officially retired from open wheel racing Race results editIndyCar Series results edit key Year Chassis Engine Drivers No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts Pos Pos2003 HMS PHX MOT INDY TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH MCH GAT KTY NAZ CHI FON TXSG Force GF09 Honda HI3R V8 nbsp Greg Ray 13 9 8 11 18 12 8 16 10 8 15 17 DNS 14 8 15th 2532004 HMS PHX MOT INDY TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MCH KTY PPIR NAZ CHI FON TXSG Force GF09B Honda HI4R V8 nbsp Greg Ray 13 14 10 20 27 7 15 23rd 99 nbsp Mark Taylor R 7 14 21 19 14 22 17 10 7 17th 232References edit IRL Indy 500 Greg Ray Access Motorsports announce sponsors Motorsport com Archived from the original on 2017 10 06 Retrieved 2017 10 05 Taylor delighted with Access deal Crash 2004 07 13 Retrieved 2017 10 05 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Access Motorsports amp oldid 1154619482, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
