VeeKay and DCR rebounding together in 2025

Rinus VeeKay’s career was in a freefall. Cut loose from Ed Carpenter without warning after five seasons, the young Dutchman spent the closing months of 2024 and opening to 2025 watching open seats get filled and his chances of return fade with each signing.

As the first race approached on March 1, it was down to one chance with a Dale Coyne Racing team that was coming off its worst season in more than a decade. Sitting out for a year and waiting to see if a better opportunity arose must have been a consideration, but VeeKay had done an offseason test with Coyne where his skills and energy-filled demeanor made a huge impression on the team.

Coyne and team manager Mitch Davis wanted him to play a meaningful role in DCR’s latest reboot where all-new drivers and all-new race engineers would go on a journey together and see how far they could take the No. 18 Honda which missed out on earning a $1 million Leaders Circle contract after finishing 27th and last in the Entrants’ championship.

Shared across a multitude of drivers, the No. 18 failed to finish inside the top 10 at any of the 17 races in 2024, but with VeeKay installed, five top 10s from nine races – including a run to 10th last weekend at Road America – has his holding 14th in the Drivers’ standings and the car sitting 14th in Entrants’ points.

The 24-year-old is just four points away from catching Alexander Rossi, the driver he was dropped for at Ed Carpenter Racing, in 13th, and has a seven-point advantage over former ECR teammate Christian Rasmussen in 15th. For a last-minute deal with the worst team of 2024, VeeKay’s making one hell of a statement about what can happen when talent and faith come together in unusual circumstances.

"Another top 10, up 12 positions from the start, another good weekend,” VeeKay said. “This was a messy one with a lot of cars going off, I was in the mayhem as well; I got hit one time by someone and lost a few positions. We had some incredible pace on a big fuel save. The guys on the stand gave me the perfect number and I had the perfect car to hit that number and have good pace. Really good job. We have had top-10 pace at every race but one. That's really promising heading into the crazy month of July.”

From Mid-Ohio to the Iowa Speedway doubleheader to Toronto and the conclusion in Monterey, IndyCar will hold five races next month and VeeKay believes the No. 18 crew can go at least one position more than the fourth-place finish they produced at Barber Motorsports Park.

“I think we really have a great car and if we keep getting into that top 10 we will get some luck and bring home some hardware,” he said. “Five top 10s in nine races and all but one of them we had the pace to be up in the top 10. Huge thanks to my whole team for getting all the pace this season.”