Rinus VeeKay leaves Dale Coyne Racing ahead of 2026 IndyCar season

Credit: Lorena Barros

Rinus VeeKay has announced his immediate departure from Dale Coyne Racing, just seven months after the team signed the Dutch driver for a full-season ride in 2025. VeeKay shared his departure in a social media post today.

"I want to thank Dale Coyne Racing and in particular Dale and Gail for the opportunity they gave me to re-establish myself in 2025," said VeeKay. "This year was genuinely the most enjoyable year in my career as an IndyCar driver. Especially big thanks to Renato, JC, Nico, Carlo, Brennan, John, Ryan, Matthew, Conner, Ed and Michael, Carrie and Michele for giving your best effort every single session as the 18 crew. This season and its lessons will stay with me forever."

VeeKay, who was the 2020 IndyCar Rookie of the Year had raced for Ed Carpenter Racing for five seasons between 2020 and 2024, which yielded one race win at the 2021 Grand Prix of Indianapolis. VeeKay was dropped by the team prior to 2025, as they opted for a line-up of Christian Rasmussen and Alexander Rossi.

The Dutchman's IndyCar career had seemed to be over at that point, before Dale Coyne gave him a lifeline in the No.18 Honda, being the last driver announced to race in 2025. VeeKay's short tenure at Coyne re-vitalised his IndyCar career as he claimed seven top 10 finishes which climaxed with a second-place finish at Toronto.

VeeKay finished 14th in the championship, continuing his streak of finishing between 12th and 14th in each of his six years in the series. He comprehensively outperformed rookie teammate, Jacob Abel and gave the team their highest finish in the drivers' championship since Santino Ferrucci finished 13th in 2020.

Credit: Dominic Loyer

Todd Ault, who had partnered with VeeKay at Ed Carpenter Racing, had recently been announced to sponsor both of Dale Coyne's No.18 and No.51 entries in 2026, providing vital investment into a team that had been struggling for funding for several years. VeeKay drove an Ault-sponsored car at IndyCar's season finale at Nashville Superspeedway.

It provisionally puts the team into a position where they can hire both drivers for 2026 rather than relying on paid drivers for those seats.

When the announcement was made on Friday, Coyne had stated he "did not know VeeKay's status" at the time. However, differently to previous seasons, Coyne has made clear his drivers will be announced in due course for 2026.

“We’ll be announcing both our drivers before Halloween, I can guarantee you that,” Coyne said. “I’ll be excited when we announce our two drivers. I think I know who they are, and I’m pretty excited about what it’s going to be."

VeeKay's expected landing spot for 2026 is expected to be at AJ Foyt Racing. Earlier on Tuesday, Team Penske announced the departure of Will Power after 17 seasons with the team, with David Malukas heavily favoured to inherit the No.12 seat. That would leave a vacancy with Foyt, which VeeKay could fill alongside Santino Ferrucci.

The silly season cogs are continuing to turn after VeeKay's departure from Coyne today.