Access Motorsports was an American auto racing team that competed in the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

from 2003-2004. Founded by 1999 Indy Racing League champion

Greg Ray Gregory Ray (born August 3, 1966) is an American former race car driver. After winning the SCCA national Formula Atlantic championship in 1993, he moved up to the CART-sanctioned Toyota Atlantic series in 1994. In 1997 he made his Indy Racing L ...

after failing to find a ride for the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, the team debuted at the

2003 Indianapolis 500 The 87th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 25, 2003. Two-time defending champion Hélio Castroneves won the pole position and was trying to become the first driver in Indy history to ...

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 The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measure ...

chassis and a

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

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 The 88th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 2004. It was part of the 2004 IndyCar Series season and the ninth Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League. Buddy Rice won the pole ...

. Ray was fortunate enough to sign a one-race deal with

Rent-A-Center Rent-A-Center (commonly referred to as RAC) is an American public furniture and electronics rent-to-own company based in Plano, Texas. The company was incorporated in 1986 and as of 2014 operates approximately 2,972 company-owned stores in the Un ...

, but for the next two races at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

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 Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. 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. 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

IndyCar Series results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

{{IndyCar Series teams 2003 establishments in the United States Auto racing teams in the United States IndyCar Series teams 2004 disestablishments in the United States