Buddy Rice competed in the Toyota Atlantic series from 1998-2000, racing against Sam Hornish Jr. in 1999 and winning the championship in 2000. He started racing karts at age 11, winning several national titles.
From there, Rice recorded the biggest win of his career by winning the 88th running of the Indianapolis 500 for Rahal-Letterman Racing in 2004.
The young pilot became the 18th driver to earn his first career win with an Indianapolis 500 victory, the last being Buddy Lazier in 1998. Rice is also the 18th driver to win the Indy 500 from the pole.
Rice won his first career IndyCar Series pole in the 2004 season-opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In the 2005 season, Rice had a rough year, scoring just two top-five results on his way to a 15th-place finish in the final standings.
The 2006 campaign wasn't much of an improvement as Rice limped to a 13th-place finish in the standings with a best finish of fourth at Watkins Glen. It was the final season for Rice at Rahal Letterman Racing after the team released him due to a lack of sponsorship. As a result, Rice ended 2006 racing in the Champ Car World Series, competing for Forsythe Championship Racing in the season finale in Mexico City.
Despite his flirtation with Champ Car, Rice returned to the IndyCar Series in 2007, racing alongside Sarah Fisher at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
He posted three top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in his first year with the team and finished ninth in the standings.
