VeeKay: Juncos "can have a lot of confidence" heading into May
- Dan Jones
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
In his six Indianapolis 500s, Rinus VeeKay has certainly experienced some of the highs and lows of racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. From qualifying in the top seven in each of his first five attempts, 2025 marked a very different qualifying experience for VeeKay who won out in an inter-teammate bump battle with Jacob Abel at Dale Coyne Racing.
It's the nature of the Indianapolis 500 that is felt nowhere else: "One day I feel like world's greatest driver ever around this place one day I'll question my existence."
Although that moment might be one that many wish to forget as quickly as possible, it was a moment that VeeKay learned from: "When you struggle around this place, you create a whole different kind of respect. I've had some really scary moments last year around this place. If you get damaged, you'll probably don't find the speed again in your car."
2026 will mark VeeKay's first Indianapolis 500 with Juncos Hollinger Racing after signing for the team in a surprise move in the off-season. Many believe the Indianapolis 500 to be a significant reason into VeeKay's decision to switch team.
"I think we can have a lot of confidence, looking at Conor [Daly] last year. He made the Fast 12, he raced for the lead until they had that vibration issue so a lot of positives coming into the month."
VeeKay also knows what a fast car feels like at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He qualified between second and fourth in four consecutive seasons between 2020 and 2023 in his time with Ed Carpenter Racing. Given that track record, April's Open Test has only boosted VeeKay's confidence: "ECR is my baseline around this place, a really good race car and a good qualifying car in the five seasons I've had with them. And this is, if not better or on par with the car I've had with them. So it feels good, really confident leaving that test."
Juncos are one of the smallest operations in the IndyCar paddock which has seen them form a partnership with the only Indy-only team in Dreyer & Reinbold Racing for the 'Month of May'. Although it is not a partnership as integrated as the ones between Meyer Shank Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing or AJ Foyt Racing and Team Penske, there are certainly benefits to both of the operations.
"We don't share engineering meetings," said VeeKay on the partnership. "My engineering office looks the same as last week during the GP. We have a lot of communication about traffic running. 'Hey, you guys want to get into traffic?' because honestly, when I go out and try to get in traffic with Penske's and Ganassi's, they go into pit lane. That's kind of their deal. Nobody wants to give away all of their stuff.
"And this way, we can meet up as a team, go out when there's no happy hour, can go out as a team and get some improvement on all of our setups. And then if somebody's really visibly struggling, we'll step in and give setup information and everything. We're not exchanging dampers or anything."
The other good news for VeeKay is that the stresses of last year aren't of concern this time around. With only 33 cars entered for the 33 that will start the 110th Running of the Race on May 24th, VeeKay and all other drivers have a spot guaranteed in the field.
"I'm just really relaxed and I know that whatever I'll get this year is better than last year. I survived last year, we actually raced really well until we had the brake failure at the pit lane. The team is a very stable team and they really know what they're doing around this place."
