Rinus VeeKay will remain the driver of the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet for the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season and beyond as part of a multiyear agreement.
VeeKay, 21, joined ECR before the 2020 season and has spent his entire NTT INDYCAR SERIES career with the Indianapolis-based team. VeeKay will compete in the full 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule behind the wheel of the No. 21, which he will drive for a fourth consecutive year.
“I am very excited to continue with Ed Carpenter Racing for what will be my fourth year in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES,” VeeKay said. “Ed Carpenter gave me the opportunity to drive for the team when I came out of Indy Lights and has let me showcase my talents in an Indy car ever since.
“The continuity at ECR is great. There have barely been any changes in my time here, and it’s very nice to have the same group of people around me all the time. We have been stepping up our game every season, and with the support of Todd Ault and BitNile, we can really move forward as we head into 2023.”
Raised in Hoofddorp, Netherlands, Rinus van Kalmthout began karting in 2009 at age 8. With sights set firmly on the pinnacle of North American open-wheel racing, he moved to the Road to Indy ladder series system in 2017 and launched his U.S. career driving as Rinus VeeKay. He finished second in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship in 2017, won the Indy Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires title in 2018 and finished second in Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires in 2019. He won 16 races in 48 starts over those three seasons.
VeeKay reached the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2020 and earned the Rookie of the Year honors. He earned his sole NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory in a stirring drive at the GMR Grand Prix in May 2021 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
“I am so happy to be able to extend our relationship with Rinus,” team owner Ed Carpenter said. “He is an extremely versatile and talented driver.
“It has been and remains our hope to build our team to new heights with Rinus helping lead the charge. Our goals and expectations are to win races and to compete for championships. With Rinus’s growth and the support from BitNile and Todd Ault, we are primed for success.”
VeeKay is the longest-tenured full-time driver in Ed Carpenter Racing’s 11-year history. He will be behind the wheel of the team’s No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile Chevrolet this weekend in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee (3 p.m. ET Sunday, NBC and INDYCAR Radio Network).