A test or an audition? Last week’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES oval session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway might have been both for veteran driver Rinus VeeKay.
A few weeks removed from officially parting ways with Ed Carpenter Racing – the only team the Dutch driver has ever known in this series – VeeKay delivered a host of impressive laps in a car fielded by Dale Coyne Racing. VeeKay finished the daylong test with the third-fastest lap among the 11 drivers on track.
VeeKay’s speed of 223.383 mph trailed only Alex Palou, the series champion of the past two seasons, and Josef Newgarden, the winner of the past two Indianapolis 500s presented by Gainbridge. Palou’s fastest lap was 224.342 mph; Newgarden’s was 223.973 mph. Four former “500” winners – Marcus Ericsson, Helio Castroneves, Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay – were below VeeKay on the speed chart.
VeeKay still doesn’t have a ride for the 2025 season, but he felt he helped himself at IMS.
“I might have created an opportunity,” he said.
Dale Coyne’s team has not named a driver for either of its two full-time entries for next season, but after using eight different drivers this year, VeeKay could deliver the stability the team desires. VeeKay has a proven track record at IMS, including top-seven starts each of his five years, and he has started on the front row three times (2021-23).
VeeKay also has led each of the past four “500s,” 65 laps in all. Only four drivers have led more – Palou, Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon and Conor Daly – in that stretch. Note that Newgarden is not one of them.
VeeKay said that by the end of the session Friday, the Coyne’s Honda-powered car felt similar to what he drove at ECR, which should be taken as a compliment given how much speed Ed Carpenter’s cars have shown at the Speedway.
“It was very stable,” Veekay said. “We started out not really where we wanted to be, and we moved the balance and went through the whole test plan and checked everything off the box and liked a lot of the stuff. I would say we made a lot of progress throughout the day.
“I think this is a really good group of people (at DCR), and they had a pretty unstable year this year. But (this) shows that with the right plan, and the driver that brings experience on what it should feel like, I think we got a top-three car right here, like we showed.”
Neither VeeKay nor DCR had much time to plan for the pairing. The team called the driver the prior day. VeeKay said he jumped out of the shower and was gathering his equipment from ECR within the next hour. He had to put white tape over the conflicting logos on his driver’s suit, but he made it work.
What happens next for VeeKay is still to be determined, but he pointed out that he has 80 series starts on his resume, highlighted by a race win in 2021 on the IMS road course. He also has two poles in the series: in 2020 on the IMS road course and in 2022 at Barber Motorsports Park (he finished third in both races). Remember, he is still one of the youngest drivers in the series, having last month turned 24.
While VeeKay’s focus is on securing a ride for next season, it should be noted that another young driver used a strong showing with Coyne’s team to vault to an even bigger opportunity. In 2020, Palou’s performance with DCR team earned him a call from Chip Ganassi Racing. You know the rest of the story.
“By pit selection, where (Palou) qualified eighth, he was next to the Dixon car,” said Mike Hull, Ganassi’s managing director of the 2020 Indy 500. “The first time I’d seen those guys in action was Carb Day. I watched the action in his pit box, then I watched his action on Race Day. I said to Chip (Ganassi) at that time, ‘This guy is special.’”
Could VeeKay be as special? He hopes to show that in a new team setting. Perhaps that’s at DCR.
“I know there’s a lot of interest out there in the paddock, but there’s very little space,” VeeKay said of the lack of open seats for 2025. “It’s such a weird off year with all the contracts, but I kind of feel like I’m in (Palou’s) shoes when he was my age. But (I’ve got) an 80-race head start, which helps.
“From what I've heard, people see me as oval specialist now. I think it kind of showed (at the IMS test) where I'm really good at this stuff. I really fit in with the group of Alex Palou and Josef Newgarden that I think I can call myself the seasoned veteran in INDYCAR. I think with a ride with the right people around me and the right material, I can be up there with those guys consistently.”
The 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge will be held at IMS on Sunday, May 25, 2025. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES season begins March 2 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.