Robbie Buhl Explained

Robbie Buhl (born September 2, 1963) is an American former race car driver who competed in the Indy Racing League. He was a color commentator for the IndyCar races on Versus. In 2016, Robbie, along with his brother Tom Buhl, started Buhl Sport Detroit, a motorsports marketing company, professional race team, and teen driving program based in Detroit, MI.

Buhl's current race team, Racing4Detroit, is the first professional race team based in Detroit, and most recently ran in the 2019 Americas Rallycross Championship. He also created and acts as lead instructor of Teen Street Skills, an advanced teen driver training program also based and operating in Detroit.

He won the 1992 Indy Lights championship and caught the eye of John Menard's Team Menard in 1996, running as team mate to Tony Stewart for two seasons succeeding the late Scott Brayton. He scored his first win in what was once the closest finish in series history when he beat ex-MasterCard Lola F1 driver Vincenzo Sospiri by 0.064 seconds at the New Hampshire International Speedway.

Personal life

Buhl was born in Detroit but his home is Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. He is a graduate of Cranbrook School (now Cranbrook Kingswood School) in Bloomfield Hills. His family's wealth stems from 19th/early 20th century manufacturing and real estate development and the industrialization of Detroit in the period 1850-1950. Family holdings included Buhl Stamping, Buhl Aircraft Company, development of vast real estate holdings (including the landmark Buhl Building in downtown Detroit), Parke-Davis (now part of drug giant Pfizer), Buhl Steel (now part of U.S. Steel), Copper and Brass Sales, Inc, (by marriage) and many other holdings. Relatives include former Detroit mayors Christian H. Buhl and Frederick Buhl. His parents reside in Grosse Pointe Farms, Harbor Springs, Michigan, and Hobe Sound, Florida.

On Easter Sunday 1999, he married former racer Scott Brayton's widow Becky.

Robbie is a Founder and key Supporter of "Racing for Kids", a charitable foundation established to assist chronically ill children. Robbie makes a point of visiting sick children at hospitals on each stop of the circuit, bringing a bit of cheer to their lives in the process.

In 2007, he began a broadcasting career, joining the broadcast booth for the Indy Pro Series, now the Firestone Indy Lights Series, alongside veteran broadcaster Bob Jenkins. He would join Jenkins and Jon Beekhuis in the Versus broadcast booth for the 2009 IndyCar Series.^[1] It was announced on the Izod Indycar Series website he was let go by Versus for the network's IndyCar coverage and will be replaced by Wally Dallenbach Jr., who is also a color commentator for TNT's NASCAR coverage.^[2]

Career results

American Open Wheel Racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

American Racing Series / Indy Lights

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points
1990	Leading Edge Motorsport	PHX	LBH	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LS	4th	118
1991	Leading Edge Motorsport	LBH	PHX	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	DEN	MDO	NAZ	LS			6th	110
1992	Leading Edge Motorsport	PHX	LBH	DET	POR	MIL	NHA	TOR	CLE	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LS			1st	186
1995	Dorricott Racing	MIA	PHX	LBH	NAZ	MIL	DET	POR	TOR	CLE	NHA	VAN	LS			2nd	140
1996	FRE Racing	MIA	LBH	NAZ	MIS	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	TRO	VAN	LS			26th	2

CART

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points	Ref
1993	Dale Coyne Racing	Lola T92/00	Chevrolet 265A V8t	SRF	PHX	LBH		MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	NHA	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LS	21st	6	[3]
			Buick 3300 V6t				INDY
1994	Dale Coyne Racing	Lola T93/00	Ford XB V8t	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	MDO	NHA	VAN	ROA	NAZ	LS	41st	0	[4]

IRL IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	No.	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points	Ref
1996	Beck Motorsports	Reynard 94i Lola T94	54	Ford XB V8t	WDW		INDY														3rd	240	[5]
	Zunne Group Racing	Lola T94				PHX
1996-1997	Beck Motorsports	Lola T94/00		Ford XB V8t	NHM	LVS	WDW														13th	170	[6]
	Team Menard	G-Force GF01	3	Oldsmobile Aurora V8				PHX	INDY	TXS	PPI	CLT	NH2	LV2
1998		G-Force GF01B			WDW																17th	174	[7]
		Dallara IR8				PHX	INDY	TXS	NHM	DOV	CLT	PPI	ATL	TX2	LVS
1999	Sinden Racing	Dallara IR9	44	Infiniti VRH35ADE V8	WDW	PHX	CLT	INDY													22nd	114	[8]
	A. J. Foyt Enterprises		84	Oldsmobile Aurora V8				INDY	TXS	PPI	ATL	DOV	PP2
	Tri-Star Motorsports		22											LVS	TX2
2000	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	G-Force GF05	24		WDW	PHX	LVS	INDY 26													8th	190	[9]
				Infiniti VRH35ADE V8					TXS	PPI	ATL	KTY	TX2
2001		G-Force GF05B			PHX	HMS	ATL	INDY	TXS	PPI	RIR	KAN	NSH	KTY	STL	CHI	TX2				12th	237	[10]
2002		G-Force GF05C			HMS	PHX	FON	NZR	INDY	TXS	PPI	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	KTY	STL	CHI	TX2		17th	177	[11]
2003		Dallara IR-03		Chevrolet Indy V8	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY	TXS	PPI	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	STL	KTY	NZR	CHI	FON	TX2	14th	261	[12]
2004		Dallara IR-04			HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIL	MIS	KTY	PPI	NZR	CHI	FON	TX2	24th	44	[13]

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1993	Lola T92/00	Buick 3300 V6t	Practice Crash		Dale Coyne Racing
1996	Lola T94/00	Ford XB V8t	23	align=center style="background:#CFEAFF;"	9	Beck Motorsports
1997	G-Force GF01	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	4	align=center style="background:#CFEAFF;"	8	Team Menard
1998	Dallara IR8	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	5	align=center style="background:#EFCFFF;"	31	Team Menard
1999	Dallara IR9	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	32	align=center style="background:#CFEAFF;"	6	A. J. Foyt Enterprises
2000	G-Force GF05	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	9	align=center style="background:#EFCFFF;"	26	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
2001	G-Force GF05B	Infiniti VRH35ADE V8	9	align=center style="background:#CFCFFF;"	15	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
2002	G-Force GF05C	Infiniti VRH35ADE V8	2	align=center style="background:#CFCFFF;"	16	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
2003	Dallara IR-03	Chevrolet Indy V8	22	align=center style="background:#EFCFFF;"	23	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Notes and References

1. http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2009/06/q-with-analystowner-robbie-buhl.html Q&A with Robbie Buhl
2. http://www.indycar.com/news/show/55-izod-indycar-series/48130-versus-expands-coverage-lineup/.
3. Web site: Robbie Buhl – 1993 CART Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 15, 2023.
4. Web site: Robbie Buhl – 1994 CART Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 15, 2023.
5. Web site: Robbie Buhl – 1996 Indy Racing League Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 6, 2023.
6. Web site: Robbie Buhl – 1997 Indy Racing League Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 6, 2023.
7. Web site: Robbie Buhl – 1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 6, 2023.
8. Web site: Robbie Buhl – 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 6, 2023.
9. Web site: Robbie Buhl – 2000 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 6, 2023.
10. Web site: Robbie Buhl – 2001 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 6, 2023.
11. Web site: Robbie Buhl – 2002 Indy Racing League Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 6, 2023.
12. Web site: Robbie Buhl – 2003 IndyCar Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 6, 2023.
13. Web site: Robbie Buhl – 2004 IndyCar Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 6, 2023.