Rinus VeeKay was in the thick of a podium finish, but fell just short in a wild IndyCar Series race that finished after midnight into the Monday morning at World Wide Technology Raceway.
The Dutchman started 13th and executed a flawless drive matched by a strong performance by the pit crew of his #76 Juncos Hollinger Racing (JHR) Chevrolet, which helped gain valuable track position that cycled him into the top five with 57 laps to go. From there, he was on the heels of ECR’s Christian Rasmussen, Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson, who led a race-high 114 of 260 laps, and Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.
In the end, VeeKay was unable to match the pace of the top three, ending up on an island of his own in fourth at 3.4347s off Newgarden’s race-winning pace.
It’s not only the best result for VeeKay this season, but the best for JHR since former driver Conor Daly’s podium in 2024 (Milwaukee, 1).
“We had a good night,” said VeeKay, 25. “We had good pace, and we moved through traffic. Didn’t have a lot of lucky breaks to start the race, so kind of cycled back all the time, and the last few stops we hit the right thing. We did a great job as a team. JHR Chevy was very good.
“Just a bit too much understeer at the end there, being side by side with Christian (Rasmussen). Couldn’t get it done. Being a race car driver, you’re bummed with fourth place, because you go home somewhat empty handed. But still, really, really good job by the team.”
VeeKay reflected back at Phoenix Raceway in March, where he noted this performance could’ve happened before it ended prematurely after coming together with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou.
“You know, this is how we should have raced in Phoenix,” VeeKay said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do that. Just really happy to show that pace, that strength for such a young and small team now. We’re beating the big boys right now.”
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