The heroic IndyCar comeback story of Rinus VeeKay
- Archie O’Reilly
- Jul 21
- 14 min read
He had the IndyCar world at his feet.
A maiden victory on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. A front-row start for the Indianapolis 500. A runner-up finish on Detroit’s Belle Isle circuit.
It was the month of Rinus VeeKay’s dreams.
But three-and-a-half years on from that May-June stretch of 2021 for the prodigious then-20-year-old Dutchman, the picture was quite the contrast. Talk of a move to one of IndyCar’s powerhouses had not only faded, but as of late September in 2024, VeeKay was left with prospects looming of no longer being an IndyCar driver at all.
After five years with Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR), he was out of contract at the end of the 2024 season. But there has appeared a sense that, after a strong 2024 season, there was a high probability that he would be retained.
So what came was a brutal sudden turn of events for VeeKay, who had brought ECR its biggest successes since the departure of Josef Newgarden in 2016.
At only 19 years old, VeeKay was impressively quick from the outset - always a telling marker of a driver’s ability. And by the end of his rookie year in 2020, he could call himself an IndyCar pole-winner and podium-sitter after a sensational weekend on the Indy road course.
He backed that up the following year with victory on the same track - the team’s first win since the Newgarden era. Then came the Detroit second place and, the following year, another pole and podium at Barber Motorsports Park.
He became a renowned force on the oval at Indianapolis too, qualifying no lower than fourth in his first four Indianapolis 500 attempts, including three successive front-row starts, before heroically recovering from a crash to qualify seventh in 2024.
Heads were quickly turning in the IndyCar paddock and VeeKay’s name was being mentioned in the same breath as some of the series’ best talents.
But as the ECR team endured a testing year in 2023, VeeKay’s stock appeared to fall too. He waned a little as a force, picking up only two top-10 finishes across a season of such inquest that Conor Daly lost his seat before the mid-season mark.
VeeKay was resilient, though, and 2024 a much improved year, despite a bout of mechanical failures in the early part of the season. Leading the team alongside rookie Christian Rasmussen, he rallied to a career-best seven top-10 finishes and first top five in two years at Iowa Speedway, finishing no lower than 14th in an impressive final eight rounds.
Through the peaks and troughs of his time at ECR, VeeKay remained a marvellously consistent and reliable driver - always finishing in the 12th-to-14th window in the championship, no matter the toils of any individual year.
And after his 2024 season, in which he finished 13th in points, it felt as though momentum was picking up again. But with new investment entering the ECR team, the decision was instead taken to retain Rasmussen for his first complete season in IndyCar, joining forces with new addition Alexander Rossi.
VeeKay was left with nothing.
“I have nothing but respect and appreciation for the years we had with Rinus,” team owner Ed Carpenter said on IndyCar’s January media day. “I still consider him a really good friend and a really talented driver that I hope will find a spot in the sport. He deserves to be here.
“But for us, he had been with us five years, our longest-tenured driver ever at ECR, and it’s never easy to make those decisions but we just felt like it was time to move in a different direction. It could have easily been Rinus and Alex instead of Christian but we made the decision that we thought was best for our team.
“I’m not going to go into all the details of why and how we got to that exact decision. But the important thing is we had five really good years together and I have nothing but appreciation and respect for Rinus. Hopefully we’ll be competing against him.”
The manner of VeeKay’s departure felt somewhat abrupt. Rather than a statement from the team expressing gratitude for its longest-ever servant, it was VeeKay himself who first officially confirmed that he would be leaving the team with which he had spent his entire IndyCar career after graduating from Indy Lights after the 2019 season.
There is now-justified argument that it was the right time for VeeKay to move on from a situation that may have run its course and reached its ceiling. No longer as frequently touted as an option for top teams after a more stale couple of years for ECR, maybe heading for a fresh environment and new proving ground was something VeeKay needed.
But the unceremonious nature of his ECR exit is what did not necessarily sit right. The late decision to not renew VeeKay’s expiring contract left him scrambling, with most vacant seats - and, on the face of it, the most desirable - already filled by the season’s conclusion.
Even if a chance to change tack and have the opportunity to thrive in a new environment was favourable, places to land were at a premium.
But early that October, within a month of VeeKay’s departure from ECR, a race car driver left in the wilderness found a lost race team in a state of flux. It was initially only for an Indy 500 hybrid test, but for VeeKay it was a chance to put his mind at ease and a welcome reminder of the reputation that remained in the paddock.
The winter continued on and nothing was confirmed for VeeKay. It appeared the unwarranted prospect of being on the outside of the field looking in was genuine for 2025.
But then came a test at the Thermal Club. And once again, VeeKay appeared with an association to said struggling team. This time, it was not a driving role but instead in the form of mentorship for the organisation’s newly-signed rookie driver.
VeeKay continued to make an impression.
“He was helpful,” said Jacob Abel, the rookie in question. “He was just trying to come and help me out a little bit with my first test with the team. So very helpful. He’s someone with a lot of experience. He’s a race-winning driver and he’s a super helpful resource to have.”
The calendar turned to February, when IndyCar would first be on track on a race weekend in St. Petersburg at the end of the month. Almost a fortnight went by and there was still no news on VeeKay’s future.
But on February 14th - Valentine’s Day no less - the final seat was finally, officially filled. And a relationship brewing throughout the off-season came to fruition…
Rinus VeeKay was the new driver of Dale Coyne Racing’s No.18 Honda.
By the announcement, VeeKay had already been officially onboard for a week or two. But it was still a somewhat late-notice deal only a month in advance of the season-opening race. After four months as a free agent though, all that mattered to VeeKay was that he was in the field and had a lifeline amid an IndyCar career that felt in undeserved jeopardy.
For Coyne too, it was a return to stability - two drivers confirmed for the entire season - after having a rotation of nine different names across two cars throughout 2024, often only announced a matter of days before events commenced.
On the face of it, it could not have been a more downwards step for VeeKay. Coyne’s two entries were not even close to making the Leaders’ Circle cut in 2024 and had a best single-race result of 13th - on three occasions - across the entire season. Pile that on top of its week-to-week driver uncertainty, it was a team that appeared in disarray.
But it was a challenge that VeeKay relished and a chance to be the face of a project. It was an opportunity to rebuild - both for himself and the team - without the weight of expectation.
They hit the ground running in St. Pete, making the Fast 12 in qualifying - something never achieved by the team last year amid a best road or street course starting position of 17th - and converting a ninth-place finish. Already in a single race, VeeKay had eclipsed Coyne’s best race result of 2024 by four positions.
Tougher weekends followed with finishes of 17th and 19th at Thermal and Long Beach. But VeeKay resoundingly returned to form at Barber, qualifying fifth and finishing the race in fourth having scythed into third-place finisher Scott McLaughlin’s advantage - possibly one lap shy of beating the Team Penske man to a podium finish.
Within four races, there was an immediate reminder of VeeKay’s pedigree and heads started to turn again. There were instant signs of being settled in a new home - also with a different engine manufacturer - for the first time in his IndyCar career.
Already, IndyCar’s ‘small team that could’ were back dicing it up with the series’ big guns.
“It was the best thing that could have ever happened to me, for sure, and maybe to Rinus too,” said Daly, VeeKay’s former ECR teammate, of the benefit to a change of team, speaking to DIVEBOMB in March. “Rinus just goes out there and kicks the crap out of them in the first race again. It’s one of those things that is super satisfying to see for me.
“Rinus I thought was a great teammate because he was so talented. And I truly believe he was unfairly let go there. But probably the best thing that could have happened to him. A lot of drivers don’t get that chance to go back and compete somewhere else in a better environment or certainly a more fitting environment for yourself as a driver.”
VeeKay carried his form to Indianapolis, where he raced from 24th to finish ninth for a third top-10 finish in five races on the road course. But switching attention to the oval for the Indy 500 - a previous specialty of VeeKay’s - Coyne were in a bad place.
As the pre-qualifying practice week went on, the team appeared to lose more and more pace. And by the time qualifying weekend came around, it became abundantly clear that it would be a fight between VeeKay - never having qualified lower than seventh - and teammate Abel to make the last spot in the field from Last Chance Qualifying.
“It’s a lose-lose situation,” VeeKay said in the aftermath. “We were playing chess with two Queens.”
It was ultimately VeeKay who made the cut at the expense of his rookie teammate. But there was not even the slightest hint of celebration, instead VeeKay immediately embracing and consoling young Abel.
In this moment of adversity, VeeKay’s leadership shone through. And in the weeks afterwards, he continued to rally around and support Abel through one of the toughest moments of his career, having his Indy 500 debut dream snatched from him.
“Rinus is the most supportive teammate that I’ve ever had,” Abel expressed ahead of the following event in Detroit. “He’s very, very helpful - on the confidence side as well. He was very reassuring to me. He was right there in the position with me.”
VeeKay had gone on to make progress into the top 10 in the race when a brake failure saw his Indy 500 end with a crash on the entrance to pit lane on Lap 82.
But no matter the ending, something that stood out through May was the maturity within his approach. It rang true in a wider sense of managing to get the most out of every weekend throughout the season - being both ambitious but measured in his expectations - while remaining almost wholly mistake-free.
“There’s definitely a different mindset going into the race now,” he explained leading up to the Indy 500. “I’ve always had the feeling like I had one obligation and that was to win with Ed Carpenter Racing. Now I’m starting on the back row, I can kind of take it easy and build the race like any other IndyCar race. It’s one of 17 for me now during the season.
“I can just be relaxed and maximise what we have because that’s what we’ve done all year with Dale Coyne Racing. We’ve maximized which was P19, but we’ve also maximised something that was almost a podium.”
Adversity struck again in Detroit, qualifying an impressive seventh before a very early mechanical issue. But the single-lap speed shown was a welcome first result under the guise of esteemed engineer Michael Cannon, who was brought onboard at Coyne amid an engineering reshuffle in the aftermath of their disappointing Indy 500.
And in the three rounds subsequent, VeeKay was able to convert top-10 finishes - headlined by seventh at Gateway - despite starting any better than 18th in that stretch.
“After the engineering overhaul, we really started figuring out what we needed to do,” VeeKay said, even having started the season well pre-Indy. “Michael Cannon brought a lot of experience to the timing stand and the engineering truck. It’s paying off. As a driver, you’re so much in control. You can do so much more with a car that handles well.
“We have a really strong team. Matt Nelson and Michael Cannon, Dale Coyne, that whole strategy team, them together on the stand, they make it happen every time. Through whatever is going to happen, we make the right decisions. It makes the race a lot more fun.”
VeeKay has not consistently had the car beneath him to deliver in qualifying, but what has been so laudable has been his ability to make his way through the field - both through racecraft and decision-making with the team - on a consistent basis.
In the Gateway, Road America and Mid-Ohio stretch, he made up a combined 40 positions in the races - headlined by a 17-place gain in Mid-Ohio.
Iowa was trickier for the team - probably the toughest weekend of the year outside of the Indy 500 - as VeeKay and Abel were the slowest cars in qualifying outside of the crashed McLaughlin. To his credit, despite placing him 26th for Race 2, VeeKay delivered a bold and committed second lap still over 170 mph even with apparent damage after wall contact.
VeeKay finished a lap down in 16th in Race 1 as Abel crashed, but for a bad weekend for the team to have ended with Abel’s career-best finish of 11th and VeeKay one position behind - two results better than the team’s best of 13th last year - in Race 2 was positive.
But if there is a substandard weekend, there is never any panic and lessons are taken.
The following race on the streets of Toronto proved that in abundance. Coyne took what worked well in Detroit and it translated immediately as VeeKay made the Fast 12 for the fourth time this year, qualifying ninth.
Come the race, Coyne’s decision not to pit off the troublesome, high-degrading alternate tyres under an early caution provoked questions as VeeKay started to tumble through the order - along with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simspon on the same gameplan.
But over the course of 90 laps, the pain taken for 13 laps eliminated a pit stop from a race that appeared it would be a three-stop affair - and with two stints on the favoured primary tyre ahead. It was a masterstroke of a strategic play.
“The yellows helped definitely,” VeeKay admitted. “That was our strategy - there was a really high probability [of cautions]. I really tried to baby [the alternates] from the start, really be soft on them, try to stop wheel spin and everything. In the end, it felt like I was driving on the axles only on the rears. It was hard.”
But the phase where VeeKay almost appeared to be driving on ice paid off. Because when Álex Palou finally made his first stop of the race under the fourth caution on Lap 41, VeeKay cycled to the lead with only one stop remaining - on the same strategy as those behind.
Ultimately, on a three-stop strategy having bailed off the alternates at the earliest possible moment at the start, shorter stints left second-place driver Pato O’Ward in a better fuel situation than VeeKay. And owing to requiring less fuel to the finish, his pit stop time could be shorter during the final exchange.
So as the pair stopped for the final time, O’Ward was able to jump VeeKay and move into the lead of the race. But VeeKay was able to hold on admirably within three seconds throughout the final stint, comfortably staying ahead of Simpson - his long first stint on the alternates also paying off for a maiden podium - before a late caution neutralised the race to the finish.
“Fuel doesn’t flow quicker than it does,” VeeKay said. “Unfortunately we lost some time there. Tried my best but in the end the tyres were gone. Pato’s tyre were gone… we were all slipping around. Second is the best we could do for us but second was a good day for us.
“I think I and the team did everything we could. Coming out of the pits, I think [O’Ward] was two seconds ahead. Closed the gap up [as] his tyres were getting up to temp. In the end, it’s hard to stay close and get a really good run. I really tried my best.
“I maximised. The whole team maximised. Everyone is very happy. Everybody on the team should be really proud.”
If there is even an ounce of disappointment at a runner-up finish, that only speaks to the outstanding progress to which VeeKay has helped guide Coyne over the last six months.
It is a first podium for the team in two years - since David Malukas at Gateway - and first on a road or street course since Romain Grosjean at Laguna Seca almost four years ago in 2021. The last time the team was on a street course podium was with Sébastien Bourdais’ St. Pete win in 2018.
For VeeKay, it is a first rostrum visit since Barber in 2022 - a much-deserved reward for his incredible efforts this season. He has brought confidence back to a team that was in strife.
“That was an awesome race,” he said. “We really had the feeling that he could do this today. We’ve been moving forward every race in the last six races but we’ve been starting in the back. It was important for us to qualify good and we qualified ninth, did a bit of a different strategy to others. In a crazy race, it was the right thing. Great team effort.”
It was a seventh top-10 finish of the year for VeeKay, levelling his career-best single-season tally achieved last year. Considering this was a team without a result better than 13th last year, this is an almighty achievement - especially replicating that level of performance across IndyCar’s diverse range of tracks.
“There’s a number of places this year where I’ve had the best car I’ve had in my IndyCar career,” VeeKay insisted. “It was a crazy off-season with everything that happened. [But] I think it was a jump in my career.
“The less pressure we have as a team, every weekend comes at its own. We’re at that point in the season where we’ve figured out what we need to do. We’re going to have some really strong races coming up.”
Understandably coming into the season, the talk was all about Coyne making the Leaders’ Circle. But ahead of the homestretch of 2025, there is now a genuine prospect of VeeKay - sitting 11th in points - achieving a personal-best championship result.
Not since Bourdais in 2019 has a Coyne driver finished 11th or better. And if VeeKay is able to bridge a current-seven-point gap to Malukas in 10th, he would be the first Coyne driver inside the top 10 in points since the great Frenchman finished seventh in 2018.
As it stands after 13 rounds, VeeKay is ahead of a pair of Penske drivers and 35 points clear of Christian Rasmussen, the closest ECR driver, in the No.21 car he vacated in the off-season. His career has lift-off once again.
“I’m really happy,” he said. “We exceeded expectations to start the season with a P9 at the first race. Tied for my personal top 10s in a season… that’s really, really good. It’s been three-and-a-half years since I’ve been on the podium - it just feels great.
“It’s great to celebrate again. Really feel like this whole team is coming alive right now.”
VeeKay has been transformative for and has revitalised an ailing outfit. And Coyne themselves have provided a welcome home for a driver who had somehow become somewhat of a forgotten talent.
But at still only 24 years old, VeeKay is re-proving his credentials as a driver that would be far from out of place at one of IndyCar’s leading operations. And he may well be ushering himself firmly into those conversations again.
From the brink, VeeKay is back with a vengeance.
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